Animals and Prizes
by Alsike
Summary: Tori Vega is starting an exciting new school, Hollywood Arts, but she has a secret. She's a female alpha, naturally dominant and aggressive. If anyone finds out, her life will hardly be worth living. Alphas sense when an omega goes into heat, but that doesn't mean she wants an omega - especially not a girl omega. Biology isn't destiny, right? Jori
1. Chapter 1

**First of all, the provenance of this fic: Victorious is a wonderful show and I have just started watching it from the beginning. I am… savoring it. But as I was watching the first few episodes, I was thinking, you know, these characters' motivations would make a bit more sense if they were in one of those Alpha/Omega worlds, such as the one in Chash's wonderful series: A Fine Job of Bending All the Rules (available wherever awesome fanfic is stored). And so that it what this story became: Victorious set in the FJoBAtR universe (wow, that is a terrible acronym). It also has the same motivation as Chash's story. Knotting universes are awesome, "BUT WHAT ABOUT THE GIRLS"?**

**I don't really like covering the same material as the episodes, so this is probably going to be the only one that does that. The sharp left turn is coming up next chapter, I think. Let me know if you think it's worth continuing!**

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_Things I like,_ by Tori Vega.

1) Science. 2) Nice boys. 3) Ham. 4) My parents. 5) Music. 6) My sister Trina (maybe).

_Things I like, but didn't know I liked until yesterday_

Performing in front of a crowd.

_Secrets I'm planning on keeping until I die_

1) That time I looked at porn on the computer and saw a knot and wanted to puke.

2) What my sister did to me that one time at summer camp. Trust me, you don't want to know. (Oh ewwwww. It wasn't _that_!)

3) I can smell it when omegas go into heat.

4) It smells good.

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For some people a new school was a horror, for others it was an opportunity. For Tori Vega, it was a minefield.

Kids were drumming and tap dancing on the landing. The lockers burst with color. Everyone looked cool and awesome. Tori hesitated outside the door. She wasn't cool and awesome, and it was _important_ that she wasn't cool and awesome. She was supposed to stay in the background, not be noticed. But she had been noticed, been on stage, and they had all been really wonderful and welcoming.

For once, she hadn't felt like a freak.

Now she kind of did, but not in the way she was used to. She had always been supposed to restrain herself, keep calm, not get angry, keep out of the spotlight. If they were looking at you they might _see_ you, and she really didn't want to be seen - not for what she was.

Not for an alpha.

But here everyone wanted to be seen, and trying to stay out of the spotlight would make her ten times more freakish. It would draw attention. People would ask questions.

Oh god, she couldn't stay. But before she could run, Trina grabbed her elbow and pulled her through the doors, talking excitedly, with the overly dramatic comforting tones that sometimes made her feel like a big sister, and sometimes just made her Incredibly Annoying.

Then, of course, she abandoned Tori in the hallway. But it was Trina. What did she actually expect? Her ride was gone. She might as well go to class.

The crazy red-head (beta, she mentally categorized), Cat, wasn't any help, and the boy with the puppet (possibly a male omega? That would be weird. But the puppet persona was a perfect imitation of a douchebag alpha) got her lost. She had planned to show up early and talk to the teacher, but when she finally got there she was hardly early, and the teacher hadn't even arrived yet.

And then there was the boy with the hair. He was super cute, and nice, not screaming at her for spilling his coffee and staining his shirt, and he didn't give her that prickle of annoyance all down her back like other alphas did. _Beta_. _Nice boy beta_. She smiled.

Then, of course, the door opened.

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Jade West hated mornings. She hated this morning particularly. Beck wasn't waiting at her locker for her, and there was a weird smell in the hallway. There was always some weird smell in the hallway, it was a high school after all. But this smell was pernicious, and suspicious, and then, of course, she stepped into her classroom and figured out that it was THAT GIRL.

THAT GIRL was the one at the showcase. The one waltzing onto their stage and doing the most idiotic choreography with absolutely no natural grace whatsoever. The one that pushed past her, brushed up against her knee as she moved through the seats, _late_, and sent a shock up her leg. She stunk too, stronger than the Axe soaked beta boys on their best day. It made Jade want to vomit.

It made her horny.

Jade didn't care about alphas. Fucking goddamn alphas. They didn't tempt her. She didn't want them. She was used to all the losers around school, and fine, she could sense them when she was in heat - and she was on the tail end of it now - but she didn't react. Iron self control had to be good for _something_.

It had to be the shock that made her hormones do backflips.

_Girl alpha, girl alpha, girl alpha. Freak._

Girl alphas were freaks – even more so than girl omegas. Being a beta was normal. Being a male alpha meant you could boss everyone around. Being a female omega meant you were supposed to smile and eat shit. But being a male omega or a female alpha was just _weird_.

And she was such a _dork_.

That was the most shocking part of the whole thing. Letting herself get pushed onto stage, fighting back, but fighting out of embarrassment. She was an _alpha_, even if she was a girl. She should own it.

And then she did own it, and Jade grabbed Beck by the collar and jerked him toward the door. "We're getting out of here."

"Hey, she's pretty good."

Her hand went straight to his crotch. "I'm better."

And now, three days later, THAT GIRL was in her classroom, in her space, and stinking the place up. Not only was it THAT GIRL, it was THAT GIRL with her paws all over Beck, looking all dark-eyed and seductive. Jade was filled with rage.

She was used to being filled with rage. But this time it was so much rage that she couldn't even express it. THAT GIRL. Why was she here? Why was she touching Beck? Why was she looking all sweet at Beck? She was an alpha. She was supposed to want- Well, to be honest, she was supposed to want _Jade_, and Jade couldn't help feeling irritated that she didn't. And threatened. And super pissed off.

"_Dude_!"

But she couldn't move from the door. The room already stank like that girl, and stepping into the miasma made her want to be violently ill.

The girl looked confused. And then she backed down. She ducked her head and shied away when Jade flicked her to the side. She _submitted._ That was NOT an alpha thing to do.

But the girl was an alpha. Jade didn't make mistakes about _that_.

She was an alpha who submitted.

It... kind of turned her on.

Jade settled into her chair, in close and possessive proximity to Beck, and watched her. She was _nervous_. She was _awkward_. She was _such a dork_.

Jade hated her.

Jade would have hated her even if she hadn't been putting her forearm all over Beck. She hated her because she was an alpha, and because she was so goddamn close, and Jade's heat was supposed to be over, but this frigging alpha was making it hard to sit still in her chair.

And so, when she had the chance, she pushed it. She called Tori up on stage to have her first (and hopefully last) taste of improv.

_Be my dog_, she thought. Alphas were animals. But maybe they could be pets too.

Tori was scared. Jade grinned. She was out of her depth. She wasn't in control.

That was how omegas felt all the time. It might be a good deed to give her a taste of it.

"I went to the animal shelter and got us a _new puppy_."

Touching her was more than Jade wanted to do, but she put her hand on her arm. It sparked like static electricity. Jade's teeth ground together. Fucking alphas. This girl needed to not be in her class, not be in her school.

"Sikowitz..." _Tell this bitch to get out! _

Tell her to kneel. No alpha would kneel for an omega.

But Tori did. She got down on her hands and knees. Jade smiled. How could she not, when she had never felt this powerful? She reached down to touch her head. Her hair was soft and she lowered her head just slightly when Jade stroked it.

Drunk on power, Jade let the scene play, and when Tori, humiliated, fled the room soaked in coffee, she bared her teeth in a grin. Her gut throbbed. Her mouth was flooded with saliva. She felt like she was in heat, but she was supposed to be done with that for this month.

That was... a little weird. But it didn't matter. There was no way Tori was coming back to Hollywood Arts.

Jade had won.

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Tori was too old to cry on her mom, but when she turned around and said, "how was the new school, honey?" Tori couldn't help but fall into her arms and sob.

"It was that bad?"

Tori rubbed her eyes. She hated being weepy. She wasn't usually. She was tough. She was in control. She had had _coffee_ poured in her hair!

"There's a girl," Tori mumbled into her mother's chest. "She hates me."

"She doesn't even know you."

Tori swallowed and sat up. It had been the worst day ever. She had been the one touching the girl's boyfriend, and, so embarrassed at being caught, she hadn't really apologized. She probably had ought to have, but she had been distracted. The boy was cute and charming, and the girl was gorgeous and smelled like - like stars and homemade apple pie, or something equally absurd and delicious.

"She didn't have to get to know me," Tori said. "It's pretty clear she hated me on sight. I was kind of rubbing down her boyfriend though."

Her mom laughed, and Tori felt herself start to smile involuntarily.

"The boyfriend's a beta, for sure. I think his name's Beck. But I'm pretty sure she wasn't a beta."

"Oh really?" her mother cocked her head, sounding amused, as if she didn't bother categorizing everyone she met and thought it was funny that Tori still did. It was kind of inappropriate, she supposed, but it was defensive too. She had to know who the alphas and the omegas were. Betas couldn't tell a thing about what she was, but alphas got twitchy around other alphas, and when omegas were in heat they could sense alphas. Tori had to make sure to stay well away when an omega came into heat.

"No. Not a beta." Tori cocked her head. "But she didn't act like an omega." She acted like a pissed off alpha dude when he found another alpha treading on his turf. What if she _was_ a pissed off alpha finding another alpha treading on her turf? Had Tori finally met another female alpha? Of _course_ another alpha would instantly hate her. Alphas were natural rivals. But... Tori didn't feel that way. Usually she would cringe whenever she sensed another alpha nearby, a twist in her gut, a pricking down her back, a rise of adrenaline, especially if he were pushing his weight around, acting like he owned the school.

But the girl, _Jade_, had bossed her and grabbed her and twisted the arm of the teacher to make her get down and play doggy, and Tori had never felt that flex in her gut. She had poured _coffee_ on her head and Tori hadn't even gotten angry.

Maybe the yoga and meditation really were working.

Tori twisted her hair around a finger. "I think she might be an alpha."

"Really?"

_She smells nice._

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Tori had fallen asleep on her mother's shoulder. "What's up with our little alpha pup?" her father inquired quietly.

Her mother smiled up at him. "An omega girl at the new school driving her crazy." She shook her head. "She thinks she's an alpha, but you don't cry when an alpha won't be your friend."

"Ah, omegas, born to drive us alphas up the wall." He grinned.

"You didn't give her much preparation." Her mother shook her head. "Telling her that she'll end up with some nice beta boy."

"She could!" her father said stubbornly. "Or beta girl. Biology isn't destiny."

Her mother laughed. "Certainly not. If it were that would mean that I was equally destined to end up with any of those awful alpha boys I had dated. I'd much prefer to think I was destined for you."

"Well, I think I have to agree there." He leaned in, kissed his wife, and stroked his daughter's hair. "She should be free of the world pushing her around when she makes her own decisions."

"And her own mistakes."

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All else equal, Tori was stubborn. And if this was her first alpha-alpha pissing match, she wasn't running away with her tail between her legs.

She strode into that room, a little late, and that girl, _Jade_, slid up the back of her chair with a look on her face somewhere between totally pissed off and shocked. The room smelled like her, but Tori swallowed and didn't react.

Yesterday, Tori had been afraid and out of her depth, but today she was ready. Fine, she had never done improv. She might not be brilliant at it, but she could do her best. It wasn't like impressing hobo-man Sikowitz was something she desperately needed in her life. And alphabetical improv was an exercise you could win. That was exactly what she wanted, she wanted to win. So she called Jade up to play.

Jade knew it was a pissing match the moment she said her name. That almost-smile and quirk of her eyebrow were probably supposed to threaten, but Tori felt herself wanting to grin back. This situation was a little bit of a mess. Guy alphas all fought and yet they hung out in groups, like friends. Could she have a friend? Someone she could be honest with? Someone who really understood?

Jade sauntered up to the stage with a slow swing of her hips, laid a kiss on Beck like she was marking him, and the scent that surrounded her seemed to grow, deepen the sweet highlights brightening. It was kind of overwhelming, and when the game started with 'P' Tori, hardly able to pull in a breath, could only think of one thing to say.

"Please go take a shower!"

"Quit telling me what to do!"

Beck slid in, playing the nice guy, trying to calm things down. But the look on Jade's face - stunned betrayal - made it _obvious_ that that had been a bad idea.

With limited interruptions, it got worse.

Beck faked passing out, and Jade lit into her, and Tori gave up holding back.

And it was working. Jade got angrier and angrier, barely able to keep a lid on. Tori closed the distance between them, and Jade's shoulders went up. She moved, trying - almost - to get away, it seemed, keep the space between them constant, controllable. But she wasn't going to run.

Tori didn't really know what she was saying anymore. She was just snapping out responses, loving the heat of it, feeling confident. She had Jade running, and soon she would catch her. And then she did. Jade stormed off the stage, sitting down with a look of absolute death on her face.

Tori had _won_, and she was going to take her prize.

Beck was clearly a nice guy. Tori liked nice guys. And he kissed like a dream.

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Jade stormed into her house, down to her room, and threw herself on the bed. _Godfuckingdammit_! She grabbed for scissors and a stuffed rabbit and started shredding it, ears first.

THAT GIRL- THAT GIRL had humiliated her, in front of _everyone_. And she had used Beck. Beck was HERS. That was the DEAL. Damn him. Damn all those beta sluts. Tori Vega would rue the fucking day she-

"Jadelyn!"

Jade froze. Her mother's ultra-sweet voice echoed in the hallway.

"Jadelyn! I heard you come home."

Jade threw the scissors at the wall, where they impaled point first. She stomped to the door and threw it open.

"WHAT IS IT?"

Her mother smiled sweetly - fakely - unperturbed by her bellowing. "Your father wants you in the sitting room, dear."

"If he wants me let him call me himself. That would make a goddamn change."

"He's waiting dear. And he has company."

Jade grit her teeth and slammed the door shut. She kicked off her boots and rummaged through her closet until she found one of the pink frilly dresses that she only wore on these _certain_ occasions. Then she washed her face and re-did her makeup in a much milder fashion. She took out the blue extensions and twisted her hair up off her neck. White sandals on, she headed for the sitting room.

"Ah, finally. Toby, this is my daughter, Jadelyn."

Jade's father didn't bother to look at her, just sat back in his chair and gestured, eyes on his friend, another paunchy balding middle-aged man in a suit. He was probably rich. Jade didn't care.

He stood and walked toward Jade, eyeing her the whole time. He walked around her, eyes lingering on her breasts and backside.

"I never really thought of doing this," he said, humming slightly. "Being a beta myself, we sort of just muddle along. But my boy's got a knot the size of a grapefruit and being confident of where he'll stick it, and an alliance with a smart dealer like you, now that's something worth having."

Jade's father just nodded. Jade set her teeth and waited, making her face utterly blank. She counted in her head, from one on. Some days she made it into the thousands before they were done looking at her. Potential _buyers_.

Omegas were things. She knew that very very well.

Omegas were sluts, omegas were animals, omegas were prizes for alphas to win. At least that was what they had told her. She knew better now. Betas are sluts. Alphas are animals. But omegas were still prizes for alphas to win... or buy as the case may be. And she was on the auction block.

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In the evening dusk, Tori stood outside the door, shifting from foot to foot and feeling entirely out of her depth. The house was a mansion, huge and overbearing, with topiary and statuary and a doorbell in the shape of a face. She pressed the tongue of the face and heard the deep bells toll throughout the house. Then she waited.

After about five minutes - or so it felt - and right when she was about to turn around and flee - the door opened and a bright blonde woman smiled at her. (Omega. Like, stereotypically omega, the lowered eyes, the hands brought together in front of her body. It was kind of a shock.)

"Oh, hello."

"Hello," Tori forced a smile. "Is Jade here?"

The woman's smile brightened even further, but she still didn't look up. "Oh, are you one of Jadelyn's friends?" She leaned back into the house. "Jade! Jadelyn! You have someone to see you."

The thumps announced Jade's arrival, but when she stepped into view in the doorway Tori nearly fell down the steps in shock. Her eyes were clean of kohl. Her boots had been replaced by sandals. And she was wearing an old grey and blue plaid flannel shirt over a short pink baby-doll dress. But when she spotted Tori she glared, and her glare was just as fierce as it had been at school.

Actually, it was fiercer.

"Should I make you a snack?" Jade's mother asked.

"NO," Jade barked. She stepped out the front door and slammed it behind her. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Tori shifted and rubbed the back of her head. "I wanted to apologize," she said. "I can't... come in?"

"I don't want your stink in my house."

Tori sagged. "Look. I'm sorry. Things got out of hand in class today. Beck's nice, but he's yours and I don't want to screw that up. I'm not that sort of girl."

"I couldn't care less what kind of girl you are," Jade said flatly.

"I'm sorry. And I know I... must set you off. You set me off too. But just because we're both..." Tori swallowed. She couldn't say it, not out of doors. "...you know, it doesn't mean we can't be friends."

"Yes," Jade said flatly, "it does."

"But couldn't we... try? I think it could work. Can't we be friends?"

"You don't want to be friends with me, Vega. I'm poison, the deadly kind."

"I- I don't think so."

Jade rolled her eyes. "Why would I _want_ to be friends with you? You smell like something the cat dragged in. And I'm not going to be another of the idiots fawning all over you just because you don't sing as revoltingly as your sister."

Jade was hard and bitter and fierce. And it hurt. Tori wished she would stop telling her how badly she smelled. She was very careful with showering and scented soaps. No one else said she smelled whiffy. And the worst was that she couldn't really say it back. Jade's scent was strong but Tori couldn't say that she smelled bad, quite the opposite. Tori couldn't get angry at it though. She only felt sad.

At school Jade, in her make-up and boots and awesome outfits, had been charming and confident, even when she was being an asshole. But now she was only angry. There had been a push and pull before, almost like she was trying to draw Tori to her while humiliating her. But now it was only push - a hard cold wall, the color of her blue-green-grey eyes.

"Okay," Tori said. She sighed. "If you change your mind, just let me know."

She left.

Jade leaned back against the door and tried to breathe again. She said she wanted to be _friends_. Her sad rodent eyes had pled for it. But it was a lie. She didn't want to be friends. She wanted to knot her and breed her. She was an alpha. All alphas were the same.

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	2. Chapter 2

**So, I lied. This chapter is a slight AU of Stagefighting.**

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Rx: Jadelyn West (Age 12)

Hydrochlorine tablets for heat control. 1 20mg tab qd

Oral contraceptive (COCP) 1 10mg tab qd

_Omegas are sluts. Omegas are animals. Omegas are prizes for alphas to win._

When the pharmacist gave her that look after reading her prescription, Jade's eyes darted away and she scraped the toe of her shoe across the carpet.

Rx: Jadelyn West (Age 16)

Hydrochlorine tablets for heat control. 2 20mg tab qd, extra prn (as needed)

Oral contraceptive (COCP) 1 10mg tab qd

_Betas are sluts. Alphas are animals. Omegas are prizes for alphas to win._

This time, when the pharmacist wrinkled her nose, Jade just stared at her, flat and deadly, and the stupid beta spilt pills all over the floor.

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Jade kept her body pressed up against Beck's chest, trying to say in the cloud of his scent. Tori was heading past them. She glared to keep the girl moving. That was the best method. Keep her away. Keep her out of range.

Unfortunately, Tori had managed to buddy up with Cat, who was probably Jade's only real friend. Cat was probably an idiot - though Jade was withholding judgement, because all the crazy made it hard to tell. But she had never, ever given Jade a weird look. And when Jade - like an idiot - went to school during her first heat after getting medication, and the alphas had decided to surround her and cat-call and push her into the corner of the cafeteria and cop a feel, Cat had attacked them.

They had both ended up in Mr. Alexander's office. When Mr. Alexander had frowned at Jade and said, "Are you _sure_ you weren't encouraging them?" Cat had screeched, "What's that supposed to mean?" on her behalf. And Jade had decided that she was worth keeping around.

But these days hanging with Cat meant being near Tori, and the only way she could stand being within three feet of the stinky alpha was sitting on Beck's lap. Beck didn't mind some cuddling, but it wasn't really a normal part of their relationship. He was starting to give her weird looks.

She had Beck for a reason. He had been an overly nice beta boy who hadn't worried about stepping on alpha toes, and when Jade had gotten sick of suffering through her heats alone, she had adopted him.

It wasn't perfect. He couldn't knot and he didn't have the endurance to make it through the three days when Jade needed sex more than she needed air. But he also wanted it when she didn't. He didn't complain about the cockblock though, so she didn't complain about him falling asleep on her after a few hours.

She had her pills and she had Beck. With them she could get through anything. And it was so much better than without either. On her first heat she had spent the entire weekend in the bathtub getting very familiar with the detachable shower head. Afterwards she couldn't walk or move her wrist. Luckily, her parents hadn't been home. She hadn't told them when they got back. She wished no one had ever told them, but the stupid beta nurse had called home when she went into heat the second time during PE.

Getting knotted was supposed to make the heats more manageable, but she wasn't interested. She had thought about it, just to piss off her father. He was expecting her to just suffer until he picked the alpha he wanted to give her to. He was an old-school alpha, and he made sure his wife was an old-school omega. And when he found out that Jade was an omega, he expected her to be just like her mom. Well he was shit out of luck with that. And at least he couldn't smell Beck on her after a shower.

Jade had her pills and had Beck and they could get her through the worst her body could throw at her. Well, they had been able to. But now she was in close proximity to an alpha every single day, and she was popping her pills like candy.

And Tori was _still_ giving her the sad, 'can't we be friends' eyes.

She was a dork _and_ an idiot.

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"And Tori, you're with Jade."

Jade froze and shot a look of death over at Tori, who's eyes widened in what looked like actual fear. God, she was the worst alpha Jade had ever met.

"Oh, please, no!"

It was just stage fighting. Was she really that scary? Jade grinned and waggled her eyebrows. Tori was so pathetic about wanting to be friends, but she didn't trust Jade. That was a little hilarious, and it made her feel powerful again.

"Now this is important for everyone, but especially the alphas. This is a stage fight. If anyone makes real contact, or tries to use this as an excuse to make a statement about dominance, you fail the assignment, and you lose half a letter grade in the class."

Tori didn't move after the class had broken up, partners getting together to plan their practice times. Jade sauntered over to her, carefully keeping a reasonable distance between them. "What's the plan?"

Tori gave her a sideways look. "Um, I guess we should meet?"

"Your house, after school, okay?"

"I, uh, okay."

Jade walked away. She could feel Tori's eyes lingering on her ass, and made sure to give a little extra sway to her hips.

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Ringing the girl's doorbell was a lot less satisfying. Alphas were territorial. She was going to be stepping onto her turf. This had been a mistake. Jade's house was out of the question, but she should have picked some neutral ground.

From the other side of the door she heard a shout. "Tori! Get the door! You're the one expecting company!"

There was a thunder of feet coming down the stairs and a small crash as if Tori had knocked over a chair.

Then the door creaked open and Tori peeked at her through the crack. "Hey," she said, awkwardly.

Jade stared at her. "Are you going to let me in?"

Flushing, Tori stepped back, opening the door wider and showing off a perfectly modern house. One of the chairs did look rather askew. An older woman - not much older -, looking rather like Tori, was thumbing through something on her phone. Jade paused on the threshold. _Beta_? She wondered. That might make sense. If Tori had been raised in a family of betas she would have no idea how to act like a proper alpha. The woman glanced up and looked at her, her nostrils flaring and her eyes widening slightly. "Oh, hello," she said, and strode right up to Jade and offered her hand.

_Omega. Mated omega. An omega who acted like an alpha._

Slightly stunned, Jade took the hand and bore the firm grim and shake. Jade caught the flash of a ring on the woman's left hand. She was married, like a beta, not just mated, and yet she had clearly recognized Jade as an omega right away. If the scent wasn't enough, the recognition meant, she had to be one too. But she was looking her in the eyes. Omegas weren't supposed to look people in the eyes.

"_Mom_," Tori protested.

"I'm Holly Vega," Tori's mother told Jade.

"Uh, Jade West," Jade replied, hand still tingling from the unexpected shake, the unexpected actions.

Tori hopped up and down, looking like an idiot. "We're going up to my room to practice-"

"Oh no you're not," her mother said. "You're staying right here. You can practice in the living room or the yard."

Tori stuck her chin out in annoyance, but nodded easily, submitting to her mother.

Her mother was an omega. Jade swallowed. Her mother knew that it wasn't safe to let her alpha daughter alone in a closed room with an omega - or, at least that it really wouldn't be fun for Jade. Being in Tori's house was enough of a territorial boundary that she'd crossed. But she wasn't saying anything specific either. She hadn't clued her idiot daughter in that Jade wasn't a fellow alpha. She just told Tori what to do and expected to be obeyed. And she _was_ obeyed.

"We're not going to fight," Tori muttered.

"i thought you said that it was a stage fighting project."

"We're not going to _really_ fight!"

Holly shook her head. "Out in the yard, you two. I don't need any broken furniture."

That was subtle. Tori led Jade into the small backyard. It was fenced in, but the wind and the air carried off their scents. The house was ripe with Tori and another clearly alpha scent, plus the omega richness of her mother and the sharp over-perfumed beta-bland scent of Trina. The yard was a relief.

Jade glanced back through the glass doors and spotted Holly keeping an eye on them. She didn't know what to _think_ about this. She was safe here, it seemed. But she really didn't remember how safe was supposed to feel.

"Okay," said Tori, hopping up to sit on a table and kicking her feet together. "So what are we going to do?"

Jade considered this. Tori was a) a klutz and b) an alpha. One meant equipment was a bad idea, but considering the other, equipment meant she wouldn't actually have to get close to her. "We could use weapons."

Tori's eyebrows shot up and grimaced. "Weapons?"

Jade rolled her eyes. "Yeah, like a stick and a rubber knife. Calm the fuck down, I'm not going to shoot you."

Tori offered a rather embarrassed smile. "If you think it's a good idea."

_If it means you won't have to touch me._

Tori found a cane and a plastic fork and they started to choreograph the scene. It was going better than Jade had expected, until-

"I think it might look good if we did..."

Tori stepped in and put her arm around Jade's neck. She was pressed up against her back. The cane was raised in the air above her head it a rather idiotic kung-fu gesture. Jade couldn't breathe. The fine hairs on the back of her neck rose up. Her mouth went wet.

"Do you two want a drink!" Tori's mom waltzed into the yard and they broke apart. Jade gasped for air, and then took the proffered drink gratefully, nearly leaning into Tori's mother, grateful for the unthreatening, uninteresting scent of a fellow omega.

Tori stepped away, staring at them.

"Thanks, Mrs. Vega," Jade said.

Holly smiled. "I'm right through those glass doors if you need anything else."

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It was getting dark. Tori's mom had turned on the lights in the front room. Jade glanced at her watch. "I should go."

Tori leaned back against the lawn table. "You could stay for dinner."

It had gone better than she expected. Jade was kind of crazy and demanding, but it was nice to have someone who really knew what they were doing helping her out. She thought she could really handle all the moves. She hoped it looked as cool as it felt.

Jade gave her a sidelong glance and an arch of an eyebrow. "With Trina? No thanks."

Tori laughed. That was a first - not what she had expected. _With you? No thanks_ "Okay. Thanks for this." She reached out and kind of clapped Jade on the shoulder. "We're going to rock them."

Jade's almost pleasant expression flattened. "Don't touch me," she said, and went through the doors.

Tori balled her hands into fists and stared at the cane lying in the grass. _Dammit_.

She slid back into the house. Jade was with her mother in front of the front door. Her mother had her hand on Jade's arm, speaking to her quietly. Jade was shaking her head. Then her mother handed her her jacket and opened the door.

"Thanks Mrs. Vega," Jade said, "for everything." and she was gone.

Tori's mouth opened, but she couldn't think of anything to say. It was so unfair.

Holly turned and smiled at her daughter. "She's very nice. And so polite."

_It wasn't fair!_ And Tori wasn't supposed to be jealous of her _mother_! Her hands tightened around the cane and suddenly, unexpectedly, it snapped. Staring at the two jagged pieces she gasped for air, then dropped them and fled. She ran up the stairs to her room and threw herself on the bed.

_Seriously? Seriously?_

She clawed at the blankets. Jade West had managed to make friends with her _mother_ in less than five minutes of conversation, when Tori was just shut out in the cold, like _always_! And why was she so angry? It wasn't fair that she had to be so _angry._

"Tori." Her mother's voice was stern, and Tori considered throwing something. She restrained herself. Holly sat down on the edge of the bed and patted her back. "Tori. You need to calm down."

"I'm not upset," Tori mumbled into the pillow, lying through her teeth.

"I take it she's not polite to you."

Tori sat up. "I don't get it! Why you! Why is she just so cool with you, but not me? Why...?" She frowned. "Why were you keeping an eye on us from the front room? You kept coming and bringing us stuff, and you never do that when anyone else is over."

She had a horrible thought. Jade was an alpha, her mother was an omega. Maybe this was just something about that sort of dynamic that she hadn't noticed before.

But, on second thought, that didn't make sense, because then her mom would probably always bring stuff for her dad, and she basically left him to fend for himself.

"I thought it was a good idea to make sure that Jade always had an out."

Tori frowned as the words registered. _What?_ It didn't make _sense_.

Her mother patted her knee. "Here's the thing, Tori. If you really do want to be friends with her, you're going to have to give her a little space."

"Space? All I give her is space! She just pushes me away!"

"If she's pushing you away, you aren't giving her space."

That was... probably true. "But how can I be friends and give her space?"

"Be friendly, but be _careful_." Her mother sighed. "You need to make sure she always has an escape route."

"Jade doesn't run away."

"This isn't about her using it. It's about not feeling trapped. Even if she doesn't run, she might feel better knowing that she can."

"I'm - I'm not going to attack her!"

It was more likely that Jade would attack Tori.

Holly tapped her daughter's nose. "Knowing intellectually that you're safe isnt' the same as feeling safe. Do you feel safe around a group of male alphas?"

Tori grimaced. "No. Especially not when they're saying stupid shit about female alphas."

Holly took her by the shoulders and looked into her face. "You're going to have to accept that Jade feels that way around you. And you're going to have to deal with that. Okay?"

"... okay."

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It was strange, the idea of Jade being afraid of anything. But her mother was pretty smart, and usually right about things, so Tori really was going to take her advice. She had worked out a plan. She would stay a good six feet away from Jade's personal space, and she would smile and wave. Friendly, but not suffocating. When Cat was around, she would make sure Cat stayed in between them, as a buffer. When she came into a class that Jade was in, she would take a seat on the other side of the room and then smile and wave. It was going to work.

Well, it had been going to work. But she hadn't planned on someone spilling their bottle of linseed oil on the stairs, and she was heading down them as she spotted Jade crossing below, and she hurried, ready to cross her path right at the time to be noticed but at a safe distance, and stepped into the oil slick.

She fell down the stairs, arms windmilling, skidded on the bottom step, and slammed bodily into Jade, sending them both onto the floor in a heap.

The impact knocked the wind out of Tori and she couldn't draw a breath. It seemed to have done the same to Jade, because Jade was just staring at her with an expression of utter disbelief. Finally, Tori hauled in air. "Oh god, I'm so-"

"Get the _HELL _off of me, _Vega!"_

Tori skittered to the side, one hand landing accidentally on Jade's soft belly and then she rolled away.

Jade stood, brushing linoleum dirt off her black leggings and skirt and cast a look of death at Tori. It was more death than usual. It was - I will grind you into dirt and I will choke you and crush your windpipe, and I will dig my nails into your skin until you bleed, and I will bury your living corpse in a shallow grave.

She stormed off. Tori buried her face in her hands. "Oh god." This really wasn't working out.

"Why are you on the floor, Tori?" Cat's feet were bouncing next to her.

"Jade's going to kill me."

Cat reached down and offered her a hand. She grinned at Tori. "Well, yeah. One way or another."

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The looks Jade had been giving her were not pleasant and happy looks. And _stage fighting_. Tori really wasn't ready for this.

"Butternut!"

But when they actually got going it felt like it was going to be all right. Well, right until she swung her cane and Jade actually screamed.

Mr. Alexander, swinging gently in his wicker basket chair, looked at her sadly. "I do usually see all the alphas in here. But I was hoping that you might be an exception to the rule."

Why did all the faculty have to know that she was an alpha?

"I didn't hit her!" Unsurprisingly, her protests fell on deaf ears.

"I know Jade can be a challenge to your dominance-."

_Dominance? What dominance? _Tori wasn't that kind of alpha! And, okay, maybe their first interaction had been a dominance one, but ever since Tori had happily ceded it, and been kind of rewarded by Jade just casually swinging her hips or giving her the eyebrow of incredulity. That was enough.

"It was a stage fight," Tori murmured. "I didn't want to hit her. I didn't mean to hit her." She seriously hadn't felt any contact either, but alphas were known for occasionally going into rages and not remembering anything before or after punching the shit out of someone, and if you did that, you had to be kept in the hospital and watched carefully. She was not ending up there.

"I believe you Tori."

Somehow, glancing from Mr. Alexander to Derek, the beefy alpha security guard, standing with a speculative eye on her, Tori didn't believe him.

"I wouldn't want to hurt Jade! I like her!" _Well_, "I want to like her. I want her to let me like her."

Mr. Alexander nodded sympathetically. "But she isn't yours, and you're jealous. But it's _wrong_ to take it out on her. You need to control your frustration, especially your sexual frustration."

Tori's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "My _what_?"

"You can't own people anymore, Tori. It's wrong. You have to let people make their own choices, and sometimes they won't choose you. Accept that. Learn to grow. Become a better alpha."

Tori tried not to grind her teeth.

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_Shit, shit, shit._ Jade could feel the make up running down her face. And then there was Andre, stepping in front of her, catching her in a _lie_. The force of him when he was annoyed was always unsettling because it was so unexpected. And he was going to tell Tori, he was going to ruin this.

It had been a perfect plan. It had been _necessary_. There were only so many pills she could stomach without getting an ulcer, and Tori sprawled all over her - Tori pinning her to the ground - had made the omega in her rise up with a vengeance, and it had taken all her will to not loop her legs around Tori, jerk her in, and grind up against her.

She needed to keep Tori away from her, because she could ruin _everything_. And this way people would keep her away. They wouldn't let the crazy stick-wielding alpha anywhere near poor little Jade.

Andre ran off yelling for Tori and Jade chased him. She really would kill him this time.

She lost him in the cafeteria, and gave up, sinking down against a cement pillar and clenching her fists, grinding her knuckles against the rough stone until they were raw.

She had a new plan now. Mr. Alexander would come after her, and he thought he was so sensitive, so able to understand the omega experience. Fucking beta with a psych-degree. She would duck her head and rub her eyes and say she had done it because she was scared, because Tori was pressuring her, because she didn't want to take her knot.

But no one came for her.

Well, Cat came. "Tori's in detention, _again_."

Jade slammed her locker shut. "And I should care, why?"

Cat gave her an incredulous eyebrow that was clearly an imitation of Jade's own. "She can't go to the party on Friday because she's cleaning food off the black box."

"As if she would go to the party anyway. It's a beta party."

Cat cocked her head and smiled at Jade. "We're supposed to be pretending we think Tori's a beta."

Jade's shoulders dropped. "Thanks for the reminder," she ground out.

"You're welcome! You should come to the party too."

"Haha, no." An omega go to a party? There was risky and then there was just dumb.

"Then you'll... talk to Tori?"

"No."

Cat pouted. "Please? She's really kind of fun. Can't you guys have a truce?"

"How can we have a truce?" That was impossible. The situation was unsustainable as it was, and a truce would only make Tori think that hanging all over her was okay, when it _wasn't_.

"Mmm, you could say, promise not to try to knot me and I promise I won't set you up for more detention?"

"Oh that sounds fabulous. I'll just go try that now."

"Really?"

"_No_."

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But Jade found herself in the black box on Friday night anyway. And she found herself doing other horrifying things, like apologizing (kinda), and breaking Tori out of her punishment. The music still humming in her veins, Tori bobbing beside her, they climbed over the balcony railing and sat on the edge, feet swinging. Jade stared out into space, but was still entirely aware of Tori glancing over at her and then looking away, on repeat.

It wasn't fair. Honorable was one of those medieval qualities that no one was supposed to have anymore. And she was kind of the worst dancer, but Jade liked to watch her anyway. It made her laugh.

Tori made her laugh.

"Couldn't we try being friends?"

Tori, when she wasn't being a pathetic whine-ball, made her laugh.

"No."

Tori flinched back like she was hit.

"Look," Jade said. "I just can't hang out with you."

"Because I smell?" Tori asked, like a five year old.

Jade rolled her eyes. "Yeah. And... other stuff." Like getting her in heat through the pill. Like being endlessly irritating and still kind of sexy. By being one of the like three female alphas on the fucking planet and being _here_, in her goddamn life, and messing with it. "Let's call a truce."

Tori perked up.

"We can't be friends. And we really can't hang out. But if you... make an effort to keep a three foot radius between our bodies at all times, I will... not have you put in detention again."

Tori ran her fingers through her hair. "I can do that. Well, I can try. I was trying to do that before, when I fell down the stairs. It didn't work so well."

"Try harder."

"I will. So, um. Cat said there was a party. Do you want to go?"

Jade stared at her, and for a moment let herself imagine what it would be like. The betas loved to party, and alphas would come, ready to get rowdy. Some would bring omegas, who were off limits. They would stay in a group, enjoying the vicarious power that came from their association with an alpha. Some omegas would come looking to get knotted. Jade had considered going with Beck once or twice, but it was asking for trouble, and Beck getting beaten up for her was a little more work than he signed up for, and if he wandered off, she was open season for the roaming alphas. But going with Tori...

Having an alpha meant you were off-limits. Getting knotted and scent-marked was enough to keep all the lower totem-pole alphas away. But a girl alpha? Who was lower than that? Gang rape central.

"No," Jade said flatly. "And you don't either."

"We could... do something else. Somewhere, uh, well ventilated?"

Jade stood and swung her leg over the railing. "What part of we're never hanging out didn't you understand?" But she cast a grin over her shoulder as she sauntered away.

She sensed a little flare of interest and put a bit of swing into her hips. That girl hated to see her go, but she loved to watch her walk away. And fucking with people's heads was Jade's favorite activity.

_Better be careful, _Jade warned herself, or Tori will become your favorite activity.

And then that would be that.


	3. Chapter 3

**So, this chapter actually wasn't supposed to be in this story. But it is. There may be a cameo from some characters that you may or may not recognize. **

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_Alpha/Beta relations in the Middle Ages_

by Tori Vega (age 13)

By the Medieval period, clans of alphas and their omega mates had parceled out the land into fiefdoms. The highest ranked alphas would swear lesser alphas into their service as knights. These lesser alphas managed the land that the betas worked.

Genetically, alpha-omega pairs most frequently give birth to other alphas and omegas, with alpha-beta and beta-omega pairs next likely, and beta-beta pairs least likely. In these fiefdoms the eldest male alpha would inherit. Other male alphas, including ones born into beta families, would form roving gangs, ravaging the countryside. Omegas were valuable for mating alliances between families. Betas born into ruling families would frequently become monks and nuns.

Male omegas were particularly valuable, because of sexism. Many powerful alpha males, like Alexander the Great, thought a woman's touch would weaken them in battle, and chose only to mate with male omegas. Alexander was considered strange though, because his main lover was another alpha, Hephaestion. Bagoas, a Persian male omega, bore many children who were said to be fathered by both men.

Alpha females, who are not obviously physically distinct from beta females, were not believed to exist. Those who sought out and mated with omegas were frequently considered succubi and put to death. Some historians believe that Queen Elizabeth I may have been an alpha female. As it was not expected for a supposed female beta to marry an omega - male or female -, Elizabeth did not have the opportunity to produce an heir.

This society was destabilized by population growth. Betas moved to cities when they were no longer needed to farm, and invented many things, beginning the industrial revolution. They also formed police organizations and swayed the alphas into placing restraints on the roving alpha bands. Instead, alphas would give their extra sons to the army and navy. As businesses began to prosper, alphas took an interest, and today many alphas are CEOs and politicians, though it is still possible for betas to compete.

The omega rights movement began when the pills for heat and birth control were developed. First used as a way to control wayward omegas, they soon became a way for omegas to control their own reproductive ability and their destiny. Though omegas rarely become business leaders, politicians or top actors, many find work in schools or as nurses or in minor roles in the arts. One day, we hope, omegas will be given equal chances to succeed and take their places in positions of power alongside alphas and betas equally.

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The party was in one of the super big houses in the Hollywood hills. It wasn't like Jade's house, grim and topiaried. Instead it was all California flat roofs and windows. Kids, some Tori recognized and some she didn't, poured out of the doors and onto the lawn. A washtub of beer seemed to be hosting a game of floating beerpong, and the music, pounding base and sequenced dance patterns felt like it was going to shake down the neighborhood.

Tori stood outside awkwardly and texted Cat. In a few moments Cat burst out through the crowd and hugged Tori, nearly knocking her over. "You're here!"

"Yeah, Cat, I'm here."

"Hey Tori." Beck also emerged from the crowd of people, in his leather jacket, holding a plastic cup full of beer.

"Hey." Tori frowned at him. "What are you doing here?"

Beck laughed. "It's a party. What do you think?"

"But, Jade..."

"Jade hates parties. You wouldn't catch her dead here."

And yet she had paused, as if thinking it over, when Tori had asked her to come. It just seemed wrong that he would go out and have fun and just leave her to entertain herself. "It's friday night and you're not with your girlfriend? I don't know if this is gentlemanly, Beck," Tori sassed, trying not to sound too serious about it.

Cat giggled at her side.

"Hey, hey. I asked if she wanted to hang out, and she said she had something to do." Beck frowned. "Didn't you have something to do? Like detention?"

"Jade came and broke me out." Tori felt her cheeks grow hot at the admittance.

"Aww!" Cat squeezed her around the middle. "She really does like you!"

If anything, Tori's cheeks grew even hotter.

"Hmm," Beck wiggled his eyebrows. "Well, if my girlfriend stood me up for you, it's only fair that I get you for the rest of the night." He slung an arm over her shoulder, and Tori felt her alpha bristle. She clamped down on it. He was just being a friend. "Let's get you a beer."

The house was hot and close, so full of people and wired with hormones that it made it hard to breathe. The stench of sweaty teenagers, Axe and arousal didn't help. Tori had mostly stayed away from parties like this, or parties at all, after a girl went into heat at a sleepover, and Tori had nearly lost control. It was dumb luck that she had eaten a disgusting amount of greasy fried chicken that night, and the excitement, candy, and wild hormones had made her throw up. The host's parents had rounded her up and sent her home. But she was older and more mature now. She could handle it. Everyone else seemed to. And really, there were so many douchey alphas pushing their way through the crowd that any hot-to-knot omega that might show up would be surrounded before Tori did anything revealing.

They lost Cat to a Dragonette song on their way through the living room and then ducked into the kitchen. Beck reached for the keg.

"Is there soda or something?" asked Tori. Drinking lowered inhibitions. Even if it was doubtful anyone would even notice her in this crowd, she didn't need everything to blow up tonight.

"Uh, sure." Beck found a couple of half empty bottles of soda and poured out her pick.

"Thanks."

He gave her a smile that only made her a _little_ fluttery. He was Jade's and off limits, but he was super nice. And, well, he was Jade's, which made him interesting. Jade seemed to like _him_. What made him so special? He was tall, and pretty, with a lot of hair. He would probably keep the hair. Alphas tended to male-pattern baldness more than betas.

"Hey, Beck."

Tori glanced up at the electric bristle up her back and glared at the huge alpha coming through the door.

"Hey, Doug."

The alpha, Doug, gave Tori something that was more of a leer than a smile. "Who's this? She's cute. Less of a crazy bitch than your other bitch?"

_What?_ Bitch was a degrading word usually used for omegas, or anyone servile, and Tori liked being called it as little as she liked hearing anyone called it. And how _dare_ he insult Jade when she wasn't even _here_. Fury like fire shot down her limbs. "You-" Tori tried to lunge at him, but Beck - almost reflexively - caught her before she could move more than an inch.

"This is my friend Tori Vega. She's new at HA."

"Your friend, eh?" Doug grinned. "Off limits then?"

"Off limits."

"Man, your bitch, Cat, and now this one. Soon you'll have all the hot girls off limits, Beck." Doug slugged him companionably on the shoulder and then sauntered off.

Tori jerked out of Beck's arm and spun on him. "I can take care of myself!"

"Hey!" Beck waved his hands in a calming fashion. "Don't get all riled up. That's just a running joke between me and Doug."

"A joke?"

"My big brother was like the top alpha around here for a while. I know them all pretty well, so they give me respect. I was just letting him know that you deserve respect too."

"Like 'your_ crazy bitch_'?" Tori grimaced - actually bared her teeth - then pressed her lips together quickly. "How can you let them talk like that about her?"

"Um, because I like my head on my body? I'm friends with alphas, but I'm _not_ one." Beck sighed. "Tor, it's just talk. They won't do anything to you or Jade. Alphas act like jerks, they feel like they have to prove who's on top all the time, so the competition is who's a bigger jerk, but that doesn't mean they're all like that."

"There's a fine line between acting like a jerk and being one."

"It's just the way things are," Beck said, shaking his head. "Sometimes you gotta act a certain way to survive. And, Tor, attacking someone three times your weight is not a good plan for survival. You and Jade," Beck shook his head, "you have no sense of self-preservation."

"Do _you_ act like a jerk to survive?" Tori asked, huffing out her anger and trying to get the uncomfortable feeling of... what was it? territorial possessiveness? She hated feeling like this. Being an alpha sucked. And she was still pretty pissed.

"Betas have their own niche. Alphas act like jerks, so to make ourselves look hot in contrast, we like to play the nice-guy role."

"So that's an act too?"

"It's all an act." Beck eyed her. "You're kind of an act yourself."

Tori felt sick. Was she that obvious?

"But, the more you play the role the more natural it gets. Alphas who act like jerks all the time become jerks."

"And betas who act like nice guys become nice guys?"

Beck flashed another smile, but this one fell limply on Tori's lingering agitation.

"I suppose you'll find out."

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They went and found Cat and Andre then, dancing in the middle of the living room, and joined them. Alphas wove in and out, grooving for a bit, grabbing girls who squealed in excitement. Beta couples made out on the dance floor. It wasn't just _dancing_, not like it had been earlier, when Jade was sneaking her out. The hormones were kind of wearing on Tori, making her head buzz and her stomach knot. She waved to her friends and made bathroom noises and wound her way to the stairs, trying to find a quiet place to regroup for a moment.

She wandered down the third floor hallway, happy to be breathing some air that wasn't thick with sweat, smoke, and that peculiar foul odor that seemed to be a combination of beer and carpet. She pushed open one of the doors.

Two figures were sitting on the edge of the bed, bodies brushing, lips joined in a kiss.

"Oh!" Tori slapped a hand over her mouth, wishing she hadn't exclaimed.

The two beta girls broke up and looked at her. The small one with a cascade of blonde hair narrowed her eyes and glared. "You lost?"

The other grinned awkwardly and threaded her fingers through her dark hair. "Can we help?"

Tori groped for words, "uh, no, I'm sorry. I'm going to go."

"Don't worry about it."

The blonde kicked off her boot and peeled off her sock. She threw it at Tori. It hit her in the face and then dropped into her hands. "Put that on the handle, 'kay? I don't need more tourists watching me macking on my girl."

"Please and thank you," added the other, and then leaned in and captured the blonde's lips.

Summarily forgotten, Tori staggered back out of the room and placed the sock on the handle, as asked. Then she leaned back against the wall and slid down to sit on the hall carpet.

Betas had invented dating, she knew. They had invented marriage as well, but they hadn't invented sexual orientation. Most people assumed that alphas and omegas didn't have any flexibility in their orientation, they were just oriented toward each other, but it wasn't really true. Lots of alphas messed around with betas, and some picked girl betas, some boys, and some didn't care either way. Some alphas formed committed relationships with beta males. There was even a weird movement for a pack-style family unit supported by the neo-traditionalists, who thought that an alpha male should have his omega and then as many betas, male and/or female that he could support. There was definitely the suggestion that he was fucking them all, and that they would all help take care of the children.

Tori had worried about it. Her dad had sat her down and told her that scenting omegas in heat was just biology. What was important was who you chose as a rational, reasonable, affectionate, loving human, not what your body said. Your body would adapt. Alphas who listened too much to their bodies never settled down into happy relationships. "You have to listen to your mind and your heart too."

But that wasn't the whole story, was it? Betas were really the test case, to separate attraction from biological need, and until now Tori had only been attracted to male betas. But that kiss... it had been pretty hot.

Especially the second one.

It had to be the hormones. The house was full of them. Looking up, Tori realized that the thumping she heard from the room across the hall was now accompanied by voices. "Ow!" said a girl. "Can't you get it the fuck out already? I'm sick of this!"

"Hey, sorry. I just-"

There was a small oof and then the door opened, a redhead beta girl emerging, straightening her skirt, along with a nearly overpowering gust of sex air full of alpha hormones.

Upstairs was not going to give her relief. It was time to go home.

Tori snuck down the stairs and nearly made it to the door. But Cat caught her in the entry hall. "Tori! Tori! We're playing games!"

Tori was dragged into a side room where a circle had gathered on the floor. Cat pushed her down next to Beck and across from Andre who grinned and waved. The other kids were mostly HA kids she'd seen in the halls, plus Doug. She stiffened. _Doug_.

"Time for inprov drinking games!" announced Andre. A cup of something pink got pushed into Tori's hand. She sipped it hesitantly. It didn't taste like alcohol at all, and yet...

"Improv?"

Beck grinned at her. "We're not arts students for our resumes. We love this stuff."

"What'll we start with?"

"I like my women!" shouted a boy.

Doug laughed. "I like my women like I like my yogurt."

The boy to his left said "Low Fat!"

"Creamy!"

"Covered in granola!"

"Cultured," said Andre.

"With a cream top."

"Oh, oh, with fruit on the bottom!" said Cat.

Everyone stared at her. "Uh, what?"

Cat cocked her head. "I _love_ yogurt with fruit on the bottom. Sometimes, I even like, just push the yogurt aside and eat that sweet, sweet fruity syrup..."

A few of the guys were shifting awkwardly.

"Pass! That's a pass!" said Andre.

"Uh," Beck looked awkward. "I like my women like I like my yogurt, vanilla."

"Lame!" came a bunch of shouts.

"Tori?" Beck passed on the game. Tori gaped. She was not good at this. And she didn't like her women any way!

"I, um, like my women like I like my yogurt," she repeated, trying to buy time. _yogurt, yogurt. _"with a foil cap?"

Everyone laughed. Tori grinned. Maybe she wasn't terrible at this after all.

After a few rounds and a cup or two of the pink concoction - she had to chug once when she had said "I like my women like I like my seals - with flippers!" She wasn't sure if chugging was supposed to be a positive or a negative. - Tori was feeling much better than she had been earlier, happy and super relaxed. To be honest she was more relaxed than she had been since she had started Hollywood Arts. It felt... _awesome._

The game broke up, Tori still giggling about Cat's last contribution: "I like my women like I like my spinach - hydroponically grown." She stumbled as they headed toward the kitchen, and Beck caught her, giving her an arm to cling to while she found her feet.

"Hold it together, Tor."

Tori grinned up at him. "Has anyone ever told you that you look like a seal?" It was true, all dark brown fuzz of hair that sort of gave his head a seal-like outline.

Beck considered this. "I think not. But it's sexy, right?"

He leaned in and kissed her.

"Mmmm." Tori hummed into the kiss. It was nice. There was a scent on him, not beta-bland, but something warm and comforting, kind of like... hmm... _kind of like Jade._

_OH SHIT._

Tori shoved him off. "What are you doing? What about _Jade_?"

For a moment she expected him to look puzzled, as if he had drank as much as she had and just forgotten. But he didn't. He just arched an eyebrow. "It's cool," he said. "Jade's cool with it."

Haha, _bullshit!_ "Are you joking? I kissed you in Sikowitz's class and Jade wanted to slit my throat! She got me put in detention for two weeks! There is no way on earth she's cool with it!"

Beck frowned. "We have a deal," he said. "Yeah, she got pissed that time, but that was about _you_."

"What?"

Beck shrugged. "You two were having some weird bitch match or something. Just for future reference, I don't like being a poker chip, 'kay? I was just figuring we could make out or hook up or whatever you were up for. You and Jade made up, so it wouldn't be a thing."

"No," Tori said. "Just no. It's still cheating, even if you have a _deal_." The idea of a deal kind of made her sick. Jade deserved better than that. It made her more than sick. It made her _angry._

"It's cool," Beck stepped back, raising his hands as if in surrender. Tori swallowed. Did she look _that_ pissed? She _felt_ that pissed. "If you don't feel it, I'm not pushing it."

Tori shook her head. "I don't feel it," she said and started fighting her way through the crowd toward the kitchen. She needed another drink. Beck was _nice_, right? He was supposed to be nice. And Jade was like, in her scary old house with her scary retro-omega mom, and wasn't _here_. She couldn't say if she was pissed at Beck for messing around. It wasn't fair. God, where was that pink stuff?

Most of the drinks were gone by now. She mixed the dregs of a vodka bottle with lemonade and sucked down half of it while in the kitchen. When was it going to start working? She didn't like feeling this upset.

It was time to go. She'd find Cat and Andre and tell them she was leaving. There were too many jerks here, and they weren't all alphas.

Passing the stairs, she smelt something odd. It stopped her. Sex and fear. Most everyone smelled like sex, but this scent was different. It was familiar. And the fear made it distinctive. Fear, anger and alphas.

"Who are _you_ to tell me what I can and can't have, beta _bitch_?"

"Get away from her!"

Alphas, a big alpha she didn't know was pinning the blonde from before against the wall. She was glaring. The other girl - the nice one - surged toward him, but another alpha grabbed her. The big one seemed to have a posse, two or three other alphas who had his back. The blonde lifted her head and spat in the big alpha's face. The big alpha's fist came back winding up a serious punch, and Tori lunged. Jumping, grabbing his arm, she was dragged off her feet. The alpha, swung around, dropping the blonde to lay a fist in Tori's gut.

The next few moments were nothing but confusion. Tori punched anything that looked like alpha. She caught a glimpse of the blonde doing her best to claw out the big alpha's eyes. The other girl twisted out of her captor's grip and clocked him under the chin. There was a crash and then it was over. She found herself standing next to Doug, the big alpha laid out at their feet. The blonde girl had a split lip and a bloody nose and was holding a beer bottle by the neck. The base had been shattered, and she was using it to keep the rest of the posse at bay. The other one was wringing her hand. Tori couldn't feel anything.

Doug glanced down at her. He clapped her on the back. "Good one," he said. He grabbed the rest of the posse by the collars and dragged them off.

Tori swallowed. She tried to bend her fingers and pain shot up her hands, and she doubled over, bringing them to her stomach.

"Yeah," said the blonde, swirling the beer bottle like a very deadly baton. "I coulda taken him, but thanks anyway." She offered a fist bump. Tori accepted a very soft, very loose bump. It was still insanely painful.

The other girl wrapped an arm around the blonde's shoulders and grinned at Tori. "Really thanks. It's nice to know there are some good-guy alphas around."

Tori gulped. Oh god, she had totally just outed herself, hadn't she?

"Oh My God Tori! That was so, so cool!" Cat shrieked, bounding up to her. "And," she cocked her head, "really kind of hot." And then Cat had looped her arms around Tori's neck and was kissing her.

Oh god, Tori barely managed to think. How was this her life?


	4. Chapter 4

Short chapter – but I'm progressing onward! Maybe, sometime, something will actually happen in this story.

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Things I hate about being an omega - Jade West

1) My body.

Now don't get me wrong here. I have great tits and nice hips, and even though they're 'traditionally omega' I don't give a shit. They do their job. What I hate is the lack of control. Why should my body get to decide what I do? Sometimes I try to fight my heat for as long as possible, hands off, clenching the sheets, not giving in. Sometimes I can last a couple of hours before I feel like I'm going to explode and I just roll over and shove my fingers into me.

The other thing I hate about my body is how people think it gives them the right to tell me what to do. My dad's the worst of the lot, but he's not the only one. The school nurse, telling me to stay home for at least three days whenever 'I need it,' Mr. Alexander, gathering 'the omega girls' into his office and telling us about personal safety. How much bullshit can you get about 'Don't stay out at night. Avoid mind altering substances. Stay ten feet away from alphas at all times.' "You wouldn't want to _tempt_ them, would you? It's not like they can control themselves around omegas." That's total crock. If I'm in high heat I'm not going to go up to an alpha and climb in his lap and expect him to not take that as an invitation to knot me, but during the rest of the month, I shouldn't _have_ to watch myself. They should watch _them_selves_._ And yet everyone's all so sensitive about how alphas have such a hard time controlling their _urges_. Everyone knows that they can control themselves as well as anyone, but why should they bother, when they always get off scot-free? It's always the omega's fault, because omegas are so tempting, even if she wasn't in heat, even if she was totally sober.

It's fucking hard to control your body when you're an omega. But we're the ones who get blamed for alphas not being able to keep their knots to themselves.

2) Being a belonging.

Omegas get blamed for everything, and they always spin it in the name of 'protection.' "Omegas need taking care of, because they're so tempting and they can't help it, oh _no_." It makes me sick. It's blatant hypocrisy. Omegas were born to be victims, but who's hurt if an omega gets raped? Not the _omega_. You know your laws are shitty if the rape statute for omegas includes a note about the violent retribution that the rights-bearing alpha is legally allowed to take. First of all, rights-bearing alpha? For me, that's my dad. If he were dead and I had an alpha brother, it would be him. If I were mated, it would be my alpha husband. They have _rights_, and one of their rights is to fuck up anyone who touches me. Oh wait, and, if they think I led him on, they can beat me as well.

There's a movement to get that shit repealed from the books, but alphas like it. They think it's the way things ought to be, so the government is whimpering some bullshit about states' rights.

Until I turn eighteen, I'm legally a possession, and if I get mated before I turn eighteen - which is totally legal with my rights-bearing alpha's permission - I will always be one.

I will always be a slave to my body, but one day when I get knotted and mated I'll be able to handle it better. I'll want sex, but it won't be the fuck or die imperative it is right now. But even when that day comes, I will still be a slave.

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"Hey," Beck said. He settled onto the bed.

Jade sat next to him and leaned against his shoulder. She was so tired. Getting home on Friday night, her father had actually sniffed at her, and looked disgusted. "I can't tell what's worse - the alpha scent on you or the... onion dip? You know I told you to stay away from them!" The next night he had forced her to come out and have dinner with a bunch of his business cronies. He had chosen her food for her, and glared at her if she even looked away from her plate. He had also gotten her a shrimp pasta - with the horrible revolting tails on - and she had just glared at it for nearly the whole dinner. Sunday was the first time she could escape and she headed straight for Beck's RV.

She felt the early twinges of heat coming on - breasts tender, sore muscles, tightening in her gut. It was early this month. She had a couple days, a week tops before it would become apparent to every alpha within scenting distance. The pills were doing shit to keep it down. It felt like it would be bad too.

Fucking alphas.

Beck sensed her exhaustion and squeezed her arm. "Sucky weekend?"

"No kidding. How was the party?"

"Pretty cool. Tori showed up, said you had broken her out of detention."

Jade rolled her eyes. She _would_ blab. "Can you believe that she was just going to take it? She is such a doormat."

"She's a pretty cute doormat."

Jade pulled away slightly and raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

Beck shrugged. "I kissed her."

Jade froze, her lips curling back from her teeth, her fingers clenching into the mattress. "You did _what?_"

"Hey, it's our deal, right? I was just going to make out with her a little."

It was their deal. Beta boys didn't have the endurance to maintain for a full heat, but they were horny in the interim too. Jade didn't really like sex when she wasn't in heat, and she refused to do it when she didn't have to. She had considered it, even sat across the room once while Beck macked on a Northridge beta girl and watched. She had wondered whether it would turn her on. It hadn't. It had, however, terrified the Northridge girl to such an extent that she had fled with her shirt half off.

"She seemed into it, but she made me stop because of you. She said it was cheating even if we had a deal."

Jade blinked.

"I figured she might be right. I mean, usually it's girls you don't know and who don't go to our school. But Tori's our friend, kinda, so I wanted to double check that you'd be cool with it."

"No."

Beck blinked, jerking slightly away from her. "What?"

"You deaf? I said no. I'm not _cool with it._"

"Why not?"

"I don't have to explain myself," Jade snapped. "I said _no_. Hook up with all the beta girls you want, but Tori's off limits!"

"That's not _fair_, Jade. I know you guys have issues, but this isn't about you! She's cute, and she's a beta, and I really kind of _like_ her."

Jade considered clawing his eyes out. Then she considered scarring Tori's face with acid. That would solve the problem of everyone finding her _cute_. Dammit. "We made a _deal_," Jade said. "We said you would take care of me until the end of high school or until my dad finally makes good on his threat to give me to one of his douchebag cronies, and I said that you could put your lips all over any beta girl you pleased in between my heats, as long as they were aware that _I_ came first, right?"

"Yeah. I don't see what the problem is. Tori knows about the deal, so if you just reassure her that she has permission, it'll be good. She already is all, 'but Jade, Jade, Jade,' so that knowing that you come first isn't a problem."

Jade laughed, but it was as bitter a laugh as she had ever laughed. "Oh, yeah, so it's no problem. Jade has given you permission to service her boyfriend when she's not interested. You'd really say that to her? You don't think that's degrading?"

Beck made a face. "Well..."

"And what are you going to do when she tosses her hair over her shoulder and says, 'oh, sugarplum, you know I love your cock, but cain't you just take me to a picture show this weekend. I know Jadey's supposed to have you, but if you _really_ liked me, you'd do me this one tiny little favor.'"

Beck made a confused face. "She really doesn't talk like that."

"I don't care."

"Are you worried that she'd try to mess up our deal? Because I really don't think-"

Jade could not give a damn what he thought. If it had been Tori instead of that Northridge girl she would have just shoved Beck off the sofa and climbed into her lap. But there was no way she was telling Beck that. She was sick of Tori taking her things, Cat and now Beck, and she was even more sick of other people trying to take Tori. Being Beck's slut on the side was totally degrading, and Tori might be a doormat, but she wasn't that much of a doormat. Beck was an idiot if he thought she'd go for it. But if Beck wanted her enough to try, he just might want her enough to break their deal and offer her a real relationship. And that was not okay on _any_ level.

Jade's hand slammed into Beck's chest and she shoved him back onto the bed. She jerked her scissors out of her bag and spread the blades, pressing the cold metal up against Beck's head. "You don't touch Tori. If you get your filthy little paws anywhere near her, I'm giving you a buzz cut without a razor, got it?"

Beck gulped. "Got it."

He hardened under her, the slut. He'd kissed Tori. She leaned down, wondering if the faint scent that still clung to his clothing was hers. His lips were pursed in a slightly worried expression. The thought of him kissing her, the memory of it from Tori's first day at school, it was infuriating. It had been disgustingly sweet, and Beck had been nothing but sweet back. Tori didn't need _sweet_. She needed something better than that. Jade kissed Beck, kissed him properly. There wasn't any goddamn need for sweet. And she wasn't in heat yet, but it was probably close enough for her to get off. She ground down on Beck's hips.

_Maybe_, she thought_, getting off today will make school tomorrow less hellish_. But somehow, she doubted that would be the case.

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Jade was pulling her boots back over her leggings. Beck was laying back naked in bed, half covered by a blanket. He groaned. "God Jade, you sure you're not in heat yet?"

Jade snorted. "I'm sure."

It hadn't been great, but it had been good enough. It had taken the edge off, and her body wasn't aching pathetically, wondering why she wasn't being filled. That would come with the real heat.

"You know," Beck mumbled, "at the party, Cat kissed Tori too."

"_What!_"

Beck grinned. "Just... don't do to Cat what you did to me for it. I don't think she'd ever recover."

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"What's this I hear about you kissing Tori?"

Cat grinned and bounced up and down, clearly unthreatened by Jade's number six glare of death. "Don't worry! It was just one, and I just totally _had_ to. It was so hot, her going all violent alpha like that."

Jade stopped. "What? What happened?"

Cat pointed.

Tori was coming in through the main doors. Jade's eyes were instantly drawn to the entirely season-unsuitable fingerless gloves, clearly there to hide the athletic tape and bandages that peeked out from underneath. Item two was the black eye, concealed ineptly by what was clearly Trina's handiwork.

"Oh god," Jade groaned. "What did she do?"

"She and Doug and two beta girls from out of town fought a pack of alphas. They won."

"So, does everyone know now?" If that cat was out of the bag it would probably be good to let Tori see the other cat so she didn't try to drag Jade down with her. Jade frowned as she considered her earlier conversation with Beck. Did he know? Was he seriously considering going after an alpha?

"I think we're good," said Cat. "I told everyone that the beta girls were Tori's friends, so she had to get involved when they were hassled. And one of them was kind of crazy angry. If anyone's wondering about a female alpha, they're probably wondering about her."

Jade nodded, considering this, still watching Tori as she made her way to her locker, and then winced while she tried to open it. "God," Jade muttered. "She looks like such a victim."

"I know, right!" Cat grinned at her.

Jade raised an eyebrow. "Why are you happy about that?"

"It's an awesome disguise. And really, the awesomest part is that it's only kind of a disguise."

Jade didn't think that was awesome at all. It was just _weak_.

Cat cocked her head and considered Jade. "You know, I always thought you would make a good alpha."

"I happen to agree."

"And if she were your omega, there wouldn't be any of this…" she waved her hands wildly and completely incomprehensibly. "You would just be like, _bam_! 'Stay away Jackoffs!'"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!"

Cat, surprised at having her line thrown back at her, stuck out her lower lip and widened her eyes. "Nothing. Just, you know, you'd protect her, and she'd like it."

Jade took at deep breath, through her mouth, (the nose was dangerous these days). "No," she said. "She wouldn't like it. And if she did, she shouldn't. I can't say I wouldn't try to look after her, but if she had any guts at all, she'd hate it."

"What's wrong with being protected?"

"It's not the protection," Jade said. "It's everything that comes with it. It's the way that people who think they're protecting you are controlling your life."

"You wouldn't do that."

Jade smiled. "Of course I would."

Cat chewed her lip, clearly realizing the truth of that statement.

"I would boss her better than any of the bullshit alphas trying to do it to me." It was a pleasant thought, really. And she wouldn't subscribe to any of the omega crap that they mostly got put through. She would make Tori do much more interesting things. She might even make her a star, just to see if she could, and then at home she'd make her a pet. Those thoughts made her squirm slightly, and it was time to change the subject.

"Hey guys." Tori had come up to them, and Jade jerked back. _What the hell_! If this was what the result of the truce was going to be - her acting like they were all friends now - it had been a worse idea than she thought.

"Hi Tori!" Cat squeaked.

Jade glared at her and then turned it on Tori. "What's this I hear about you macking on my boyfriend _and_ my best friend on Friday night?"

Tori gulped.

A rather bitter voice in Jade's head decided to take Tori's part. "_Jealous_?" it asked, and Jade told it to shut up.


	5. Chapter 5

So, this chapter has a lot of weird in it. But bear with me. It gets better at the end.

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_Danneel Harris, female alpha?_

In an exclusive interview with PACK! Magazine, Danneel Harris dropped the bomb that she's an alpha.

Excerpt:

DANNEEL: Yeah, it was kind of awkward. I was a pretty late bloomer, which made it even more embarrassing when I was just - OMG, _omega_.

PACK!: Did you ever act on those feelings?

DANNEEL: (Raises an eyebrow) I was a _teenager_.

PACK!: So, _yes?_

DANNEEL: Yes. I had some... very close omega girlfriends in high school.

PACK!: But now you're married, we hear.

DANNEEL: Yep. It's great. We wanted a beta ceremony so we could invite or friends and family. Mating's great, but I think the betas really understand how to build community.

PACK!: So, you and Jensen are mates then too?

DANNEEL: It was kind of crazy, you know, because I met him, and I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. I mean, I like beta boys as well as anyone, and I had had my omega girlfriends - well, that probably shouldn't have been the past perfect tense - but Jen was something else. He smelled amazing, and he was super cute, and to be honest, I had no idea how much my hormones were reacting to him until he disappeared for a couple of days and I chased him down, finding him in the middle of a heat, and well, that was that. I just knew that I wanted him - for more than right then, though I wanted him right then too. (She grins.)

PACK!: There aren't that many male omegas.

DANNEEL: There aren't that many female alphas! No, I know just how lucky I am. But I also know that, well, it's _Jensen_, it's not the omega thing. I've met a few other male omegas in my charity work, and they're just people. Some I like, some I don't. I liked Jensen. But if he had been a female omega, or a beta, I think I would have liked him just as much.

PACK!: How do you deal with security?

DANNEEL: Ever since Jensen came out we've had to be careful. Luckily the sets up in Vancouver are tightly closed, and he has a driver. When I told my agent I was planning on doing it too, she kind of flipped, and I've been jammed by security ever since. But I think it's worth it. What Jensen does for other male omegas, trying to get the rumors and myths out in the open and debunked, I think that's even more important for female alphas.

PACK!: Do you have something you want to say?

DANNEEL: I'd like to say that you don't have to be afraid, but a lot of times that isn't true. People are scared of what they don't understand. They're scared of things that aren't 'normal,' but it's so important to find a safe place to be yourself and to have people who accept you anyway. If no one ever knows that we actually exist no one will ever stop being afraid. Secrecy isn't the answer, but I'm coming out so that other girls, trapped in the tangled hormonal mess of high school, might have the chance of being able to be honest and not get hurt for it. That's all I want.

PACK!: Very moving. Thanks Danneel!

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Trina, who had come to pick Tori up from the party, was entirely unimpressed. Her mother was also less than thrilled at her swollen hands and swelling eye. Her father, on the other hand, was clearly trying not to be obviously totally proud of her. He bopped around, trying to be helpful, and occasionally giving her a slap on the shoulder. Finally, her mom hustled him out of the room so she could tend Tori's wounds in peace.

"It's been a long time since I had to do this."

Tori's eyes widened. "You had to do this for dad?"

Her mom twitched a smile. "As I said. It's been a long time. Want to tell me what happened? Was it your friend?"

_What_? Tori blinked. Her friend? Did her mom mean _Jade_? "Uh, no. I saw Jade earlier tonight. She, um, helped me with the detention. But she didn't want to go to the party."

"It seems like she made a smart decision."

"Maybe." Tori wanted to duck her head but she had to keep the ice pack on her eye. "I just... There were these girls, and they were a couple, and one of the alphas was getting pushy. And then the little one spat in his face! He was going to punch her. What was I supposed to do?"

Her mom rubbed her shoulder. "Some people might not feel like they could make a difference, even if they weren't afraid to get involved."

"I probably would have gotten squashed if this big alpha, Doug, didn't step in. But... I'm not sorry I did it."

"That's my girl!" her father was sticking his head in the door. Her mother threw a wet rag at his head.

She spent the rest of the weekend with her dad. He bought her ice cream and they hung out in the park. "Is this what alphas do?" she asked, lifting the ice cream cup, which had a pleasant numbing effect on her throbbing hands.

"Smart ones," he remarked. "You've never really been interested in what it meant to be an alpha." He looked at her. "Are you interested now?"

Tori tried to flex her hands. "I dunno. I guess. I mean, I'm not sure how much it matters. I'm _not_ an alpha."

He raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not one of the guy alphas, and knowing what they do and how they think isn't really going to help me. I'm not even part of that group enough to get kicked out of it.

"If word gets out, they're going to be interested in you. And that could be a good or a bad thing, depending on who you have on your side."

"I don't have _anyone _on my side."

"You've made friends."

Tori made a face. Andre, Robbie, and Cat were great, but against a pack of pissed off alphas they were going to be as useful as a wet piece of cardboard. Beck had tried to help, introducing her to Doug, getting her 'protection' or something from him. And Doug didn't seem to be the worst alpha she had ever met. He was a jerk, but he had fought on the right side. If things got bad she might be able to ask him for help. But if things got bad it might already be too late. If she had managed to out herself last night, she had to be really careful not to piss anyone off.

Tori made a face. There were probably a thousand ways to piss off an alpha. Number one was looking like you were making a claim on an omega. Alphas always thought they had first dibs on any omega girls around.

That was luckily not going to be a problem.

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At school on Monday, Jade kept _looking_ at her. Tori knew she shouldn't have let Trina do the makeup for her eye, because she was terrible at it (not to mention the great pain that Trina had managed to bestow while doing it.). But Jade had mocked her for kissing Beck and Cat - though neither of those things had been her fault! - and she had let her alone about the fighting.

It was... vaguely unnerving.

And Jade was smelling _really_ good today. There was a new overtone to the familiar scent. She wanted to ask what it was. Maybe essential oils, or something? It didn't have any of the horrible chemical odors that artificial scents usually did. What was it?

Tori leaned closer, and then realized that she had just started to sniff Jade's neck in the middle of class. Jade turned and glared, and Tori shoved her chair backward. _Bad plan. Bad plan!_

Three foot radius, they had agreed on that.

She was scrupulous about it for the rest of the morning.

The party was on most people's minds that day, and Tori felt a few more sets of eyes on her than usual. But so far she hadn't heard any whispers of the 'female alpha' kind. At lunch she moved slowly through the tables, ears open, checking to make sure.

There were a few alpha tables, each with a rank. The top alphas, who tended to be graffiti artists and breakdancers, were mostly chill, a couple with clingy omega girlfriends; the others hooked up with betas. Second level alphas clustered in the trumpet section, trying to blow the French horn's brains out through their ears. The perfectly coiffed auditions-for-commercials every week hair gel crowd was mostly betas, with a few leading-man alphas mixed in, but they mixed in with the alpha crowd, and seemed to get a bit more respect than the serious drama-geeks or the conservatory musicians.

There were more alphas at Hollywood Arts than there had been at her old school. But that made sense. Alphas knew they belonged in the spotlight. No male alpha was ashamed of being an alpha. They never tried to hide it. She had heard of some beta boys trying to fake it, to get the roles and the other benefits, but apparently the male alphas had certain locker room rituals which weeded out the pretenders.

There also seemed to be fewer omegas. As a new student, Tori hadn't been there during all the first heats, when the rumors were going around like crazy, so she was out of the loop. She could only spot omegas by the way they behaved, or by seeing who missed school for a few days every month. The ones who hung onto their alphas for dear life were easy enough to identify, but the others tended to disappear into the background. The only real clue was that they got bullied more than other girls.

After much consideration, Tori had decided that probably the entire viola section of the orchestra were omegas - or maybe you just got bullied for playing the viola. But even when Tori counted all the violas and a few of the cellos, there still seemed to be too few omegas.

25% of the population was supposed to be omega. There had even been a male omega at her old school for a little while, who had been found out when he had gotten knotted in the locker room, been bullied mercilessly, and then disappeared. Tori just hoped he hadn't killed himself.

But at Hollywood Arts, there were barely a handful. But that made sense, right? Omegas weren't supposed to seek attention. Beta girls tended to get all the roles, including the ones that were supposed to be omega characters.

Tori wended her way through the outdoor cafeteria, skirting the alpha tables widely. But as she passed the lowest rank alpha table, the wind picked up and caught the page of the tabloid they were reading and blew it up and right into her face. An alpha got up, laughing, and peeled it off of her. Tori only got a glimpse of it, but it was enough to see the image of a busty, confident redhead actress and the line in huge print - "_Danneel Harris - Female Alpha?_"

"I'd knot that shit."

"Yeah, totally. Give me a half an hour with her and she won't be crying alpha no more. Well, she'll be crying 'oh, alpha, alpha, give it to me!'"

"You think alpha girls have a knot? That would be gross, right? You think they'd cry like beta girls do sometimes when they take a knot?"

"There aren't any alpha girls. They're just lesbian betas who want omega pussy."

"But the article says she mated with Jensen Harris. That's a dude."

"A dude _omega_. I didn't say they just wanted _female_ omega pussy."

"Uh..."

Tori fled.

Jade was sitting alone at the lunch table, glaring death in the direction of the alpha table.

Tori swallowed and sat down across the table from her. Three feet. The truce had been going well. Keeping her distance was fine. She felt more stable, less like she was going to go crazy. It was funny, because she liked the way Jade smelled, while she hated the way the alpha guys smelled, but the response to it was the same: tension, nausea, headaches. "Alpha guys are such jerks," she offered.

The glare of death swung around and fixed on her. "I hate alphas," Jade said.

Tori winced. Was that comment actually or just incidentally directed at her? "Yeah," Tori said weakly. "Me too."

Jade snorted.

"I mean," Tori prodded her salad with her fork. "Not all alphas. You don't _have_ to be a jerk to be an alpha... like, my dad is an alpha, and he's nice. Alphas are always like - oh, our hormones mean we have no self-control - but really! It's not that hard! It's totally possible to control your hormones and not throw yourself at every omega you see! It's important to really _like_ someone."

Jade was giving her an incredulous look of the 'are you seriously still talking' type.

"My dad doesn't act like a stupid alpha," Tori finished weakly.

"Your mom's an omega."

Tori felt herself turning red. "Yeah."

Jade raised an eyebrow ironically. "Then he's probably mated. Mated alphas don't usually act so much like stupid alphas."

Tori stared at her. She hadn't really been listening. There was something distracting about the arch of the eyebrow and the slight eyeroll. She shook it off. "What?"

"Don't you know _anything_?" Jade rolled her eyes. "Everyone always talks about knotting and breeding," she made a face. "But mating isn't sexy, I guess. It's just disgusting."

She stood up, tossing her hair over her shoulder, and left the table. Tori sat by herself, a little stunned, possibly by the boots. Jade had really awesome boots. She swallowed down the extra spit that had gathered in her mouth, and frowned. Mating was disgusting? Now she was even _more_ disgusting, and she didn't know why.

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The thing was, mating wasn't supposed to be disgusting. It was supposed to be _nice_. Like, if people really liked each other, and, well, hooked up frequently, they might end up mating. In most of the alpha/omega romance movies it was part of the payoff: alpha and omega go to bed together and come out mated, and isn't that romantic? Though in real life, people who decided to do it had to fill out a ton of paperwork and get blood tests before they were given the serum that made it happen.

She had sort of picked up that it made alphas not that interested in other omegas and omegas not so sensitive to other alphas. It also changed the omega's scent, so that for most alpha/omega pairs it counted as a marriage license, essentially. But her parents had gotten married like betas. It made sense that they'd be mated too. But she still didn't know what was supposed to be disgusting about it.

Tori asked the internet.

Wikipedia, as always, knew all. "Mating, once considered apocryphal, has now been discovered to be a glandular effect. In certain situations - low stress, stable prospects, high-nutrient diet - an omega will release particular hormones while in heat which activate the scent glands, making her available for mating. Contact between a breeding-age alpha-omega pair at this time will cause an adjustment in the chemical production of the scent glands of the omega, making her scent less appealing to other alphas [Johannsen and McGill 2009] and more appealing to the alpha involved [citation needed]. This adjustment increases fertility in the omega, and possessive, defensive behavior in the alpha, supporting the formation of monogamous family units."

The biology of it was sort of weird, and really, TMI. But she still didn't know why it was disgusting. Tori glanced at the outline of the rest of the article.

"1.1 Etymology

2.1 History of the Scientific Discovery of the Biological Basis of Mating

2.2 Biological function

..."

She clicked on 2.2, saw a diagram of a knot with an arrow pointing to the base of it, with the caption "prolonged glandular contact" and felt ill. Quickly she scrolled down and blinked as a title announcing "Abuses" appeared on the screen. She read it.

"After the mating process was discovered and the method standardized, chemicals were synthesized to induce a mating heat. These chemicals were intended to make it a matter of choice, rather than natural accident, to form long term bonds. Certain parents, however, wishing to make bonds between their children, would force mating contact at early ages. Unscrupulous alphas have used these chemicals to build harems, and/or facilitate rape.

"Omegas as property: In the years before omega rights became active and also currently in many less developed civilizations, the mating bond is considered a mark of ownership rather than partnership. Mated omegas found alone were prosecutable, and if found with a man not their mate-pair they could be stoned to death.

"Laws: Since the omega was assumed to have to be receptive to the alpha, evidence of a mate-bond was used to deny many claims of rape. The expanding black market for mating-heat triggering chemicals has made the legal community begin to question this attitude, but it is difficult to combat widespread prejudice. Even naturally mated or consensually mated pairs are not free from conflict. Yet many cases of domestic violence of a sexual or non-sexual nature have been ignored due to the existence of the mating bond."

It went on, and _on_. Tori put her hand to her mouth. This was awful. How could everyone say mating was so super romantic when stuff like this happened? Jade was right. It _was_ disgusting.

It was also unpleasantly arousing. Sometimes she hated being an alpha. She rubbed the base of her wrist. Just because her kind threw their weight around like idiots, it didn't mean she had to. She wasn't a stupid alpha who thought with his knot. She didn't _have_ a knot. That meant she probably didn't have the mating glands either, so this wasn't even her problem. She scrolled upwards, carefully keeping the picture of the knot hidden at the top of the screen, and read what came below it.

"Mating is most frequently instigated through sexual contact. It involves stimulation of the alpha preputial mating gland, which will secrete fluids. These fluids, coming into contact with an omega in a mating heat, will be absorbed through the skin and trigger the alteration in the scent glands."

"Oh gross," Tori said. Secreting fluids. She was done now. Jade was right - being an alpha was wildly disgusting, and she was back to wishing she had been born a beta.

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Jade woke up from a highly explicit dream and swore. It was fucking Wednesday. She had told her teachers that she would be missing on Thursday. But no, her body wanted to get things moving a little earlier this time. It was just the first day. Not _too_ bad yet. She could go in, get her homework, grab Beck and bail. She popped about six heat suppressants and got into the shower.

She showered twice. It was necessary.

Luckily, the spiking hormonal levels from her dream started to calm and she managed breakfast with only one small comment from her mother about taking her pills. Great. Even after six pills and two showers her mother thought she smelled like a brothel. Lovely.

It wasn't bad yet. She just thought about Beck. She would have him soon, and it would be okay. She would be okay.

That was her mantra. It was a big fucking lie, but it had worked well enough until now. And it worked, right until she walked into school, and spotted Tori, standing at her locker, facing away from her, and saw her freeze.

Jade didn't move.

Tori pressed her hand to her mouth and nose, covering them, and then slowly, _slowly_, turned.

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Tori had to grab her locker when the waft of air came in from the open door. It smelled like someone's first heat. It made her knees give out.

_What the hell_? _What was a girl on her first heat _doing_ here_?

She glanced to the side, spotting an alpha at his locker. He had glanced up, but then went back to sorting through his books, as if it wasn't the strongest scent he'd smelt in his _life_.

She had to look.

Carefully, not wanting her knees to give up on her and send her crashing to the floor, she turned.

It was Jade. Jade was watching her. Jade was filling the entire hall with scent. Her eyes were dilated. The tip of her tongue peeked out of her mouth, and she licked her lips.

Tori could do nothing but stare. She couldn't even think. She couldn't move.

"_Tori?" _Was that Cat? It sounded a thousand miles away.

She could smell Jade. She could smell heat. She could smell the wetness seeping down her thighs. And Jade was moving - moving toward her.

Jade grabbed her arm and jerked her away, down the hallway, and into the Janitor's closet. She half-hurled Tori across the small room, and Tori stumbled backwards until her back hit the wall.

"What are you staring at!" she snapped.

Words were not really working for her today. Tori could only stare, at Jade's lips, at the pale skin of her neck, at the smooth slope of chest and the slight rise of breasts. Her face felt hot, breath short. Her mouth was wet. It had never been this wet.

"So you're just staring? That's it? Did I _break_ you? God. I've never met a more defective alpha!"

She shoved her. Tori's head snapped back, connecting with the wall.

Jade's hands balled into fists, she raised them and clenched in exasperation. "Goddammit!"

Her hand slid around to cup the back of Tori's neck. The tips of her nails left divots in Tori's skin. Tori had forgotten how to breathe.

Jade surged forward, pressing against her, hip to hip, belly to belly, chest to chest, and lifted her head to kiss her.

Their lips met.

Tori let out a whimper.

Jade's mouth was hot and wet. Her nails raked lines into her skin. Tori let her hands settle at Jade's waist, let her eyes flutter shut.

For a moment, time stalled, the world faded, leaving nothing but heat and scent and desire.

Jade jerked back. Tori's lips tried to follow her.

"Damn you." Jade shoved her off and swung toward the door. "I put it right in your hand and you can't even _take it_, like a _real_ alpha."

The door slammed behind her.

Tori's knees finally gave up the ghost and she slumped to the floor.

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Jade stormed out of the closet. What the hell did she have to _do_? She would have given it up in the god damned janitor's closet like some kind of whore.

Beck was across the hall. She grabbed him by the collar.

"We're getting out of here now."

"What? Already? I've got to get work from my classes-"

This seriously wasn't going to wait.

"_NOW_."


	6. Chapter 6

Questions about Sexuality for Teen Alphas and Omegas – sponsored by Planned Packhood

Dear Planned Packhood,

So, there's a girl in my school who smells really awesome all the time, and then she went into heat and I knotted her, and now I just want to be with her all the time. Did we accidentally mate? I kind of hope we have. –Sappy Alpha

Dear Sappy Alpha,

Don't be sad, but it sounds like a crush to me! You've fallen for your awesome omega, and it's really romantic. But only .5% of natural mating heats ever occur in high school. They tend to cluster around ages 26-28, when the stress of school and new jobs starts to settle down. Enjoy being in love, but you don't have to worry about the commitment and legal questions that mating brings. You aren't her responsible alpha! If you want to double check, Planned Packhood has quick blood tests that can let you know right away if you've mated or not.

Dear Planned Packhood,

I was hanging out with my best (supposed) beta buddy a few weeks ago, when all of a sudden, he started smelling super good and getting hard and looking at me. I knotted him, and it was kind of amazing, and we had a great time. But I've always thought I was into girls, and I still think girls are super hot, but I really enjoyed everything I did with my buddy, especially because I didn't get bored when we were tied. We just talked about football and stuff. I know it's mostly betas who care about gay and straight and stuff, but I always thought I was straight, and now I just don't know. – Alpha in Crisis!

Dear Alpha in Crisis!

First things first, I hope you took your buddy straight to Planned Packhood in the morning to get a morning-after pill! Most first time heat sex is enough of a surprise that people forget protection, but alphas should make an effort to always carry and remember their condoms just in case of emergency! Having a sexuality crisis is bad enough. Having a sexuality crisis along with becoming a baby-daddy in high school is not something you want to be going through!

It seems that the confusing part is that you're best friends. Friendship and sexual attraction can be all you need to form a positive relationship, but fear and prejudice can easily spoil it. Best not leap before you look! Talk to your friend about his feelings. Consider dating a bit on the down low. See if you're interested in a relationship when he isn't in heat, and then make your decision. You don't have to know everything yet! Give yourself time to think and experience life, in all its crazy, beautiful colors.

Dear Planned Packhood,

When I went into heat for the first time, I found myself thinking about my best friend, and not about any alphas. I've come to terms with the fact that I like girls, and that I'm an omega. I'm considering asking out my friend, who's made it clear that she likes me, but I don't know how to talk to her about being an omega. She's a beta, and female alphas, even if they do exist are so rare, that I really doubt that I'll ever meet one that I want to be in a relationship. I'm probably going to seek out relationships with beta girls, but how do I make that work with my heats every month? Should I try to get knotted just so it won't be so crazy? – Lesbian Omega

Dear Lesbian Omega,

It's great to see you so up front about your sexual desire and your relationship choices. It can be really difficult to feel like your mind and your body don't fit. You know you want girls, but your body wants alphas. So how _do_ you deal with that? Number one, getting knotted by some guy just to reduce your heats, isn't the answer. Sure, it makes things a little easier to handle, but so does mating, and you wouldn't want to force yourself into a mating bond just so you don't rev up so much once a month. Knotting, though not so permanent, is still a bond, and you should choose your bondmates for better reasons than simple convenience. And the truth is, you're not alone. Female alphas are a rare breed indeed, but lesbian omegas are not uncommon. Omegas who pursue relationships with female betas as well as other omegas can have happy committed family lives and satisfying sexual encounters. The most essential aspect is communication. Talk to your friend about what you want when you're in heat and be honest. Also stop by Planned Packhood for our pamphlet "Omega Sexuality: Untying the Knot on Love and Lust." It contains techniques and resources regarding sex and relationships, and, at the very least, brings up a lot of the questions that your friend might have but you might be unsure of the answers to. Good luck and good gardening!

Dear Planned Packhood,

I'm one of those rare things, a female alpha, but I've been pretty sure I was straight my whole life. Although I was attracted to omegas, I wrote that off as simple biology. But today, a girl I didn't know was an omega went into heat and kissed me in the janitor's closet. It didn't go farther than that, and she went off to shag her beta boyfriend, but I'm kind of a mess. It's never felt like this before. Being near omegas, kissing nice beta boys, and suddenly everything I thought I knew about myself is up for questioning. I just don't know what I'm supposed to do…

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"Hi Tori!"

Tori kept her face buried in her hands. She liked the janitor's closet. It smelled pleasant, and it was quiet, and she could hide her shame. She was considering staying there forever. But now Cat was in it.

"So, Jade's in heat."

Tori jerked her head up and glared. "I got that!"

"Why are you in here?"

Tori sighed and mumbled into her hands. "I don't think I can walk."

Cat looked shocked and a little impressed. "_Oh_," she said.

"Not that!" Tori didn't exactly know what she was thinking, but whatever it was, it was a NO.

"You missed Sikowitz's class."

Tori sighed. "I just want to go home."

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Her mother pulled up in the car as Tori headed out the back door. Was there any way she was going to get away with not explaining this? The nurse had taken one look at her and hadn't asked any questions, just taken her temperature and called her mom.

Tori slunk out to the car and climbed into the passenger seat. Her mom took a look at her and rolled down the window before pulling out of the school parking lot.

"Your friend went into heat," she said. It wasn't a question.

Tori nodded miserably, and then stiffened. "Wait. What? You _knew?_ You knew Jade was an omega?"

Her mother patted her arm. "It was pretty obvious."

Tori stared, utterly betrayed. "How was it obvious? How was it- She doesn't act like an omega."

"How do omegas act, Tori?"

There was a subtle hardness to the comment and Tori swallowed, remembering who she was talking to. "They act like... people. But most of the ones in high school either hide or cling to alphas. Jade didn't do any of that!"

Her mother shook her head. "And how did she smell?"

Tori slumped into the car seat. "Awesome."

"You'll get better at identifying people when you get older and the hormones settle down."

"But other omegas don't smell like _that_."

"To _you_. Not all omegas smell the same, you know. And some scents you like more than others, just like with anything."

Oh fabulous, Tori's special omega scent blend just happened to be _Jade_. Being an alpha was the worst.

Holly parked the car, and Tori straggled behind her and in the door. What had she _done?_ All of their odd interactions, falling all over her, sniffing the back of her neck... Oh god.

"Why didn't you _tell_ me!" She pressed her hands to her face. "I've been making such a fool of myself! I've been acting like a total idiot alpha!"

"Tori..." Her mother shook her head.

"It's like I was _courting_ her! I WAS courting her, wasn't I? Oh god." Tori threw herself face first onto the couch and pressed her nose into a pillow. "I just wanted to be friends. I didn't know she was an omega."

"Would you have wanted to be friends with her if you had known?"

"No!" Tori pushed herself up and frowned. "Yes? Maybe? I don't know. I mean, she could find out about me, right? I'm supposed to stay away from omegas."

"Baby, I'm pretty sure you never hid anything from Jade."

_No. _She really hadn't. "Not with all the sidling up close I did. Oh, god, no wonder she wanted me to stay away. And I didn't _listen."_

Her mother made a very 'I _told_ you' face. "_That_ was probably a stupid alpha thing to do."

"But I just..." Tori curled up into a little ball and cupped her head in her hands.

"You liked her."

"I did." Tori's lower lip extended. "But did I really? I mean, was it just the hormones? Did I ever really like her at all? Like her for myself, or just like her as an alpha?"

Because oh _god_, she had liked her as an alpha. Omegas in their first heats were sexy, but they hadn't made her knees buckle. Jade had kissed her and the alpha in her had growled so loud that she couldn't even think of what to do. Well, she couldn't think of anything but shoving Jade against the wall, burying her face between her breasts and her hand between her thighs. Tori's face felt like it was glowing with heat at the memory.

But it was _Jade_, Jade who was the most blunt and straightforward girl she had ever met. Who always said what she thought. Who had done everything she could to make her life hell, and then still cast her those secret amused incredulous smiles, like they had a connection, like they were having a secret friendship affair that no one was allowed to know about.

And the one thing that Tori had wanted – wanted with a desperation that was verging on Trina-style obsessiveness – was to open her arms and pull Jade in, and squeeze. It hadn't seemed erotic. But in consideration of recent events, it might have been a bit more inappropriate than she had first assumed.

Her mother sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in. "It's hard to tell sometimes. If you like someone, your hormones can respond to that. If your hormones respond, you might think you like them. The only way to know is to stick it out and see if it changes. Try to be friends anyway. And now that you know, you'll respect her personal space."

Tori slowly reached up and ran her index finger over her lower lip. "Yeah,"

she said softly.

"And if you can still be friends, then it doesn't matter if the hormones started it."

Tori swallowed.

"I don't even know if that would be a good thing or not."

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Jade and Beck weren't at school on Thursday. They weren't at school on Friday either. Tori very pointedly did not comment. She was fine. She was in control. She was not going to be a stupid jealous alpha.

Then Robbie said, "I wonder where Jade and Beck are?"

Rex scoffed. "What? You _know_ they in the shaggin' wagon."

Tori punched through Robbie's locker. Robbie's jaw dropped.

"Tori? _What_?"

"You need to get rid of those _nipples_, okay?" She turned and stormed off, cursing herself for her lack of control.

"Some baby wishes she was in that shaggin' wagon," Rex remarked.

Cat grabbed him and stuffed him head first into Robbie's bag. "Hey! Hey! I can't breathe in here!"

"Sorry, Robbie," Cat said.

"No, it's okay."

Cat waved and left the boy and his broken locker to run after Tori. "Hi Tori,"

Tori pressed her forehead against her own locker. "You don't want to talk to me."

"Yes I do!"

"You shouldn't." Tori flexed her hand, which was beginning to swell.

Cat looked at it. Then she looked at Tori. "Come on," she said, catching Tori's wrist and tugging her toward the nurse. The nurse took one look at the hand and at Tori's face and then over at Cat, as if hesitating.

"Just say what you want to say," Tori said. "She can handle it."

The nurse nodded. "There are hormone suppressants that you could be on."

Tori sagged. "The meditation and yoga was supposed to be enough."

"I love yoga!" exclaimed Cat.

"I just... I don't want to drug myself out yet. I had a... shock. I'll get over it."

The nurse raised an eyebrow, prodding the yellowing bruises on her other set of knuckles. "In the meantime, you could invest in some boxing gloves?"

"Yeah! Drugs suck!" added Cat. "Jade's been going through like a prescription a week these days, and it's so not helping."

"She has?" Tori asked, suddenly worried. A prescription of what? Heat suppressants?

"Yep! She says it's your fault."

Tori nodded vaguely. "It probably is." Everyone knew that omegas made alphas crazy, but what was it like for an omega to be around an alpha all the time? After being knotted, heats were supposed to get calmer, but if Jade had always had Beck, then she probably hadn't been knotted before... and still smelled like it was her first heat. If being around alphas was anything like being around omegas, it would make the symptoms pretty bad. Being around stupid female alphas who liked to sidle up close and fall all over you in the hallway was likely even worse.

Cat gasped in shock. "You're making her do drugs!"

Tori just groaned and tried to find a blanket to put over her head.

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Jade lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling of the RV, Beck snoring beside her, and wondered. It was easy to lose track of time during her heats, but she could feel the ebb of her need, so it had to be late. How long had it lasted, two days? Three? She felt bruised and sore and unsatisfied, like always after a heat, as if her body was complaining, not understanding why she had bothered with a cock that didn't have a knot, or why she had bothered with a cock at all.

Grimacing, she lifted her hips and ran her fingers lightly over too sensitive flesh. It felt like a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, but her internal muscles still clenched, wanting it, wanting more. Beck was out for a couple of hours though, she could tell by the breathing, and last time he hadn't even tried to get it up, just stayed lying on his back with his eyes shut and stuck two fingers into her, with a casual carelessness, as if he might be getting paid, but he hated his job.

It had never felt so much like 'just sex.' And it wasn't even sex it was 'just penetration,' just 'doing my _fucking_ job.'

Even the vibrator was too much right now, and Jade clenched her hands into fists and shut her eyes. This was when she could get herself off by squeezing her thighs together and thinking. _Thinking about Tori's mouth, her stunned-rabbit look, the press of her hands against her waist_. There, a slight peak. Her body relaxed into the calm moderate arousal of her last day.

She'd kissed Tori.

Fuck.

There was a reason people didn't let omegas out of the house, wasn't there? Heat made them _insane_. They thought of nothing but sex, sex, sex, and the frontal lobe was not involved in any way. She'd kissed Tori. What was she thinking? What had she _wanted_?

A growl vibrating against her throat, her shirt ripped, hands palming her breasts, a kiss, teeth tearing at her lower lip.

Fuck.

Jade rolled on her stomach, hand - still in a fist - nestled in the vee of her crotch, wrist pressing against her lower belly. She leaned into it, and bit back a groan.

What had she wanted? To be taken in the janitor's closet? To be backed against the wall, wrists bound so she couldn't touch herself, so she couldn't resist when Tori bit her way up her inner thigh?

That was what she'd teach her - to not touch her, not let her touch. Heats lasted three days, there was no goddamn hurry to get off. And the longer it took, the slower the build, the higher the peak, the more respite her body gave her after.

And if Tori could pick that one up, she might not end up feeling like someone had gone after her with a meat tenderizer.

Would it be enough? Would she feel satisfied after? Sated? If female alphas were just like female betas on the outside, could they knot? How would they do it? Jade had never saw the allure of knotting, intellectually. Fucking and coming were fine. Being opened, penetrated, stretched, her body liked that. But being tied? Having someone stick something in you that swelled up like a wound and then not being able to get it out? That was shit. She was always sweaty and sticky and foul smelling after sex, she would hate not being able to roll away right after and get in the shower.

Not that what Tori did in bed had anything to do with _her_. She had made things clear when Jade had kissed her, pushed her body into her grasp, and Tori had done nothing. If Jade could be an omega who hated alphas, Tori could be an alpha who only wanted men. That was sexuality for you, you got slapped with whatever you got, and it wasn't like you could make an executive decision to fix it. Just like your kind. Alpha, beta, omega, you were stuck.

Even if it hadn't been perfectly clear, screwing Tori wasn't going to change anything. Jade would end up knotted and tied - from behind, if she had any choice in the matter, so she didn't have to look the alpha in his idiot face - and she would be forced to stay still, sweaty and gross, as her daddy's pick of an alpha shot off into her for twenty minutes. She would be dripping with it for hours. And he would do it again, and again, until the heats stopped, because she was having his fucking pups, and the little boy would be an alpha and the little girl would be an omega, and the cycle would start all over again. That was her life.

Unexpectedly, Jade felt her eyes start to burn and her throat tighten. Goddammit, she was going to cry. She _hated_ crying.

Beck's arms flailed out and found her. "Hey," he murmured, still mostly asleep. "What's wrong? Why're you crying?"

"I'm _not_," she spit out, and pushed him away. She crawled out of bed and headed for the shower where no one but her could tell the difference between water and tears.

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Tori spent the weekend on the couch, curled into a ball, nursing her fractured hand.

Her dad tried to comfort her but she waved him away. "No, no. I am going to be humiliated here for another," she checked her watch, "six hours. No comforting."

"It isn't that humiliating," her father offered. "Alphas have good noses, but we do occasionally get distracted by how _interesting_ the scent is."

Tori put a pillow on her head. "You're not helping!"

"You know they say that omegas are only up for it during their heats, but I've found that with the correct preparation, they're quite willing-"

Tori shrieked and threw the pillow at him.

"David!" Holly called down from upstairs. "Don't give our daughter unsolicited sex advice!"

Her dad grinned, and Tori ducked her head, pushing her hair behind her ear. He was just trying to make her feel better. Her dad leaned close and whispered to her, making indicative glances in the upstairs direction, "very careful, well-planned preparation. They have hair-triggers, those omegas. Avoid pissing them off."

He sauntered off upstairs, and Tori leaned back into the couch and stared at the ceiling. She had to pull herself together before school on Monday. She had embarrassed herself enough in front of Jade already. She was going to try and stop that now. She was not going to be a stupid, pushy, (courting) alpha. She was not going to drive Jade into ODing on hormone suppressants, or to more... embarrassing PDAs in the janitor's closet.

She still wanted to be friends. She wanted it so much she felt sick inside.

They could be friends... at a distance... in well-ventilated areas.

Tori groaned and rolled over onto her pillow. This was going to suck.

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When Jade walked into school on Monday, she spotted Tori at her locker, just like she had on the Wednesday before. And Tori froze, just like she had then. She turned slightly, just enough to see Jade and force a weak smile, and then ran like a bunny-rabbit from a fox.

For some completely incomprehensible reason, Jade felt a little disappointed.

Tori continued to avoid her for the rest of the day, very carefully staying on the opposite side of any classroom, ducking her head to avoid attention when Sikowitz wanted volunteers to get up on stage and interact.

It was depressing. Jade didn't even have the opportunity to get in a good insult or death glare. It was like one big failure.

What made it worse was when she got home. Her dad was actually sitting in the kitchen, across the counter from a young man with handsome features and slicked back dark hair.

"Oh, Jadelyn," he said. "This is Gavin Marks. Gavin, my daughter."

The young man in his sharp suit turned to look at her and smiled. "You're still in high-school, are you?"

Jade nodded, not sure what to do. He had to be an alpha. He had the easy confidence and proprietary grin that they tended to.

"Man, that was a good time. It's always great to be ruling the roost," Gavin commented. It seemed like he was addressing her, but speaking to her father. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Yes," Jade said sharply.

Her father snorted. "A beta."

Gavin shook his head. "I'm sure he's very nice. You're a pretty girl, Jadelyn. You should have the world at your feet."

And was he the one offering to get it for her? Jade kept her face stony, but her eyes down. She didn't need her dad blowing up at this too.

"Say thank you, Jade," her dad said, "and then get out of here and change. Honestly, what they let you wear to school these days. It's revolting."

Jade spun and strode away.

"I don't know," said Gavin. "She seems very stylish. And she has a good figure. I bet she could carry off the classics if we could just teach her to smile."

"Oh, she can if she wants. She's not a bad little actress. She's quite good at playing a role."

Slamming the door to her room, Jade found her favorite scissors and started savaging her father's old briefcase.

This was her life.

Goddammit. Who would be surprised if she did end up going on a serial killing rampage?

No one.


	7. Chapter 7

**Oh god – this chapter. I've been fighting with it for a week, and I even broke all my rules for fanfic and printed it out to edit in On Paper. I still don't think it turned out great. But hey, it's long, at least. **

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Omegas are God's most precious children. But over 50% of teen runaways are omegas. Runaway omegas make up a disproportionate percentage of rape and murder victims. What can we do to protect our precious gems from the dangers of violence, drugs, abuse and prostitution?

In the modern era omegas are under all sorts of new pressures. Allowed to go to school, they see the lives of their beta and alpha counterparts, and naturally wonder why they aren't given the same freedoms of opportunity and choice. Some omegas rebel, refusing the guidance of their alphas, refusing their duty to their family, but others understand that they are the prizes of the world, and deserve honor and care. But how do we show the rebellious omegas the same wonderful truth?

What omegas need, more than anything, is unconditional love. At the omega prayer group of the Church of the Heavenly Pack, we share with our beloved omegas the gift of God's love. God's love is unconditional and undeniable. With its acceptance, omegas will soon learn to rejoice in the role god has chosen for them, to obey their alphas, and serve them well, so that their packs will be reunited in the Kingdom of God.

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"Jade."

Jade stopped, one hand still on the orange juice in the fridge. Her father was standing behind her. "What did you think of Gavin Marks?"

Jade stared at the orange juice, unmoving. "What do you want me to think of him?"

"He's young and handsome, isn't he?"

Jade nodded, still not turning around. It was true.

"He's the youngest CEO Holdings Corp has ever had, only twenty six. He's intelligent, aggressive, going places."

_And you want to own him, just like you own me. But you actually have to _pay_ for him._

Her father moved up behind her, resting a hand on her shoulder. "I want you to be happy, Jadelyn. I want you to be taken care of."

A stabbing pain cut through her chest. Jade's shoulders sagged. "I know, father."

"He's interested. He's made me an offer."

"Already?" her voice was weak.

"Marks knows that a long term partnership with West Group is in his interests, and he finds you... charming, surprisingly."

Jade considered stepping to the left and puking in the sink.

"We've ironed out the business agreement. It's quite… mutually beneficial. But he's requested a date with you on Sunday, to discuss the details of what he will require of you."

A date. None of the others had ever gone this far before. Gavin was serious, and so was her father, this time, not just showing her off like a prize pig. God. She had thought she'd get _out_ of it somehow. She'd thought at least she'd have until she finished high school to show her father that she was worth more than a bride-price, that she was worth something as a _person_.

She had run out of time. Her plans had gone up in smoke, and she could do nothing.

_Why_? Why was she so weak here? She could be as tough as nails, her skin like tanned hide, her tongue sharper than her teeth, when it didn't matter. But when it mattered, when it was her _life_, she was helpless.

Her father's hand tightened on her shoulder. "I'm sure you will continue to be _charming_." His thumb brushed over a small scar on her chin, the one she had gotten when he had shoved her into a countertop, face first, followed by a blow to the kidneys, after she had made a snide remark to one of his partners.

Jade took a slow breath. Getting passed from one alpha to another like so much small change was not what she wanted from her life, but getting away from her father had to be an improvement. She couldn't have what she wanted, but she would take what she could get.

"Yes, sir," she said.

"I know you'll make a good impression."

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Tori slumped over her lunch, watching Jade and Beck at a different table, and feeling generally miserable. Jade hadn't glanced over once, but Beck kept casting her worried looks and then turning the same worried look to Jade and asking her something that she would snap back at, baring her teeth.

Tori felt vaguely jealous. _She used to bare her teeth at me_.

Cat was standing with her tray, looking from table to table with a confused and distressed pout on her face. Tori made a flicking gesture at her, encouraging her to sit with Jade. It wasn't as if Tori was going to be much fun. But Jade glanced up, spotted Cat, and then stood abruptly, casting what was left of her lunch into the trash and storming off.

Beck unfolded out of his seat and came over to Tori's table, collecting Cat along the way. Robbie and Andre piled in after them.

Tori tried to smile, but she wasn't feeling it today. She hadn't been feeling it for the past week. Cat was trying to plan an event for the weekend, filing the air with, excited chatter, and Tori couldn't bear it. It was like they didn't even care that she was miserable.

"Hey, are you feeling okay?" asked Beck, looking concerned.

Oh god. The caring made it _worse_. Especially from _Beck_. She couldn't stop picturing him naked, pounding away, Jade's head thrown back, her ankles locked around his waist. It made her sick and aroused all at once.

Tori pushed herself up from the table. She forced a smile and a wave. "I've got a test this afternoon. I'm going to go study," she said and ran back into the school.

The hallways were empty. Tori thumped her head against her locker. It had been a week – one week of her new super plan to Not Be a Stupid Alpha. And so far it hadn't worked at all. Jade had come into school on Monday, completely heat free, smelling like nothing but herself, with none of those OMEGA! overtones that grabbed Tori's nose and dragged her around by her sinuses, and she was _beautiful_. Tori's gut had clenched tight, nearly making her double over, and she had fled.

It was the humiliation, she rationalized. Jade had made an idiot out of her (as had her own _parents), _and it was only normal that she wouldn't want to face her mocking comments and ironic eyerolls. But she _did_ want to face her. She wanted it a little too much.

"Hormones!" she scolded them. "Calm down! She's not even in _heat_!"

But Tori's stupid alpha cared not.

She wasn't about to let the stupid alpha take control. So Tori had stayed away. She kept the rule about personal space – not just the three foot radius that Jade had specified – but far enough away that Jade's scent was the barest whiff. She tried not to look at her. She avoided eye-contact. Eventually her alpha was going to give up on this and get bored.

She hadn't counted on being _miserable_.

Tori ducked into the janitor's closet and sat on the floor.

It was supposed to be better like this. She was staying away, and Jade didn't seem to care. She didn't look at her, she didn't glare or sneer or smile. Tori had walked out of her universe and made herself invisible. And that was fine! She hadn't ever really had Jade as a friend to begin with, so it shouldn't be so painful to have lost her friendship.

But it was.

The door creaked open and Tori's head snapped up to see Robbie, sans puppet, sidle into the closet. Tori frowned, eyes narrowing. "What do you want?"

Robbie flinched at the unexpectedly harsh greeting. "I wanted to talk." He shifted awkwardly and threaded his fingers through his curly hair.

Tori grimaced, feeling guilty for snapping at him. "What about?"

"Um," Robbie looked like he might be trying to get up the nerve to confess to her Japanese-style. God. She didn't have the mental energy to deal with this.

"If you're trying to ask me out, I'm going to say no. Sorry." She warned him off. If he managed to get the words out, she would probably bite him. He was already infiltrating _their_ closet with his smelly boy beta-blandness.

Robbie looked startled. "No, it's not that. I just wanted to say that..." He frowned. "It's not cool."

"What's not cool?"

"It's not cool how you're treating Jade."

Tori sat up straight, eyes wide. "What?" How _she_ was treating _Jade_?

Robbie took a breath and twitched as if she was scaring the shit out of him - which... she might actually be doing. She tried to look a little less crazy and a little more anxious.

"Jade is... kind of mean. And abrasive. And angry. And violent. And short-tempered-"

"Get to the point, Robbie!"

Robbie looked at her. "Jade is... all those things. But they didn't seem to bother you before. You were kind of all over her, trying to be friends, even when she blew you off."

Tori ducked her head. 'All over her,' wonderful. Subtlety? Trina apparently had more of it than her. "I know."

"But when you found out she's an omega..."

Tori stared at him. He knew. He had to. She _had_ wrecked his locker.

"…you stopped."

"I... stopped?"

"You stopped trying to be friends. You started treating her like... like toxic waste, or worse, like _nothing_. And Jade, well, she isn't exactly my friend. I don't think she exactly has friends. But she's a person. And you shouldn't treat people badly just because their kind makes you uncomfortable. Omegas are people too."

Tori stared at him. She felt frozen, limbs numb, heart an unbeating lead lump in her chest. "You think I'm treating her badly because she's an omega?"

"Aren't you? I think we would have known if it was something else. She came into school in heat and then left with Beck, and you started to flip out. And then when she came back it was like she was a pariah. You won't even sit with us if we're sitting with her. And you watch her with this kind of disgusted expression on your face."

"I do not!" Tori yelped, and then covered her face. "Oh god. I do." It wasn't disgust at _Jade_. It was at herself for being so _stupid._ "Is it really coming across like that? I'm so..."

"I can't really read Jade very well, because she's, you know, Jade. But Beck's been looking worried all week. I think she's upset."

Tori's fingers clenched in her hair. This was all going wrong. "I _wasn't_ trying to hurt her."

Robbie patted her shoulder hesitantly. "I know it must have been kind of a shock. Jade is like the _least_ omega omega I've ever come across. But just because she's different _sexually_, it's not a reason to treat her differently."

"I _know_." Tori whimpered. "I just... I freaked out. And, I did something stupid that I thought she'd be pissed about. So I just stayed out of her way."

"It's also making Cat pretty sad. I think she'd like it if you two made an effort to sit at the same table at least."

"I will!" Tori gripped his hands hard. "I'll fix it. I promise."

Robbie stared at her and then lurched forward. Tori dodged the attempted kiss quickly and dropped him as she stood. She forced a grin and waved at him. "Thanks for the heads up!" she said and darted out of the closet before he recovered.

Jeez. It was like the only person who hadn't kissed her or tried to kiss her in this school was Andre. She should really hang out with him more.

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Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Four days left before the _date_. Jade kicked the locker under hers with her steel-tipped boot. It dented.

"Jade?" Beck caught her attention. "Can we talk?"

"No!"

"Jade!" Beck grabbed her arm and tugged her toward the janitor's closet. Jade resisted, but he pulled her through and closed the door. Then he did nothing.

Jade glanced over at the wall where she had shoved Tori, grimaced, and then looked up at him. He ran his fingers through his hair, looking anxious and kind of stressed.

"What is it?" she snapped.

"What's up with you, Jade?"

"_Nothing_." There was plenty, but none of it was his business.

"Nothing to do with Tori?"

Jade stiffened. If he hadn't brought her _here_ she wouldn't have thought about Tori in days. She wasn't in heat and Tori hadn't fallen all over her recently. Tori didn't _matter _now. Jade had other issues. "Why should it have anything to do with Tori? She's staying out of my way now, like she ought to be!"

Beck made one of his annoying sympathetic faces. "And you're sad."

"Not about _her_."

"_Jade_."

This was getting absurd. "Why do you think it's her! Just because she waltzes in here and everyone thinks she's a goddess, does that mean I have to? Do I have to give one flying fuck about her?" She shoved him. "Dammit Beck!"

"Hey!" Beck fended her off with waving hands. "You're the one who was like - no, not Tori, Tori's special, hands off!"

"I have bigger problems than Tori goddamn Vega!"

"But you won't tell me what they are!"

She looked up at him, at his sad awkward little face. He hadn't sounded sad. He sounded exasperated. He _looked_ exasperated too, forehead wrinkled, jaw stuck out in stubbornness. Jade's lip curled. "You want to break up, don't you? That's what you were planning to tell me in here."

Beck stepped back, shocked, but he didn't deny it. "I... look, I just thought we should-"

"God, it doesn't even matter." Jade dug her fingernails into her palms. "Our deal was coming to an end anyway."

"What?"

Jade rolled her eyes. "This was always temporary. There was always a sell-by date on it. I might as well let you end it now. I'd just have to end it myself in a few weeks anyway, when I'm… taken out of school."

Beck's face went white. "You mean, your dad..."

"He's found someone."

"Jade." Beck went to hug her and she beat him off.

"Get off me!" She snarled at him. "You dump me and then want to comfort me. Just leave me alone."

"We're friends, Jade... Aren't we?"

God, _friends_! Everyone wanted to be friends! Friends were _useless_. All they did was pretend to care, but when it got hard for them they bailed! "_NO_." Jade growled. "I don't need you. I don't need anything. Just go. We're done, okay? We're done."

"I'm sorry, Jade," Beck said, and he slipped out of the janitor's closet.

Jade sank down against the wall, put her face in her hands, and didn't cry.

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"Jade!" Tori spotted the blackout figure storming through the parking lot, and ran to catch her. She wasn't responding to shouts, so she reached out and snagged her shoulder.

"God, Vega! Get off me!" Jade whirled, furiously, baring her teeth.

Tori jerked back, huffing and puffing to try to catch her breath, and shook her head, trying to get her to wait. "Just, hold on for a moment."

"I don't want to talk to you!"

"I wanted to apologize."

Jade did stop then. She wrinkled her nose.

Tori gulped. She shouldn't find that expression so adorable. _Bad alpha._

"What have you done _now,_ Vega?"

_Huh_? Tori paused, cocking her head. Hadn't she noticed? She opened her mouth. Jade's eyes narrowed. Tori forgot what she was going to say.

"Um," said Tori.

Jade rolled her eyes. "God, _alpha_, get off your knot and use the vocal chords god gave you."

Tori shook her head to clear it. "I, uh, I'm sorry for avoiding you this week. I've been treating you badly, and I didn't mean to, and I'm sorry."

Jade raised an eyebrow. "Honestly, Vega? It's been a relief. If you want to stay away forever, that's _fine _with me. Not having to smell your-"

"I don't smell!" Tori snapped. She had done a lot of thinking after finding out that Jade was an omega, and this was a prime conclusion she had come to. "I wash a lot. I don't try to cultivate musk. And you're an _omega_, I shouldn't smell bad to _you_."

Jade put one hand on her hip and gave her a look of utter disdain. "I _hate_ alphas. You smell like an alpha, therefore I hate the way you smell, okay? That's how it works."

Tori frowned. It sounded logical, in that way that didn't actually make any sense. "But you..." She had _kissed_ her, in the janitor's closet.

"I was in _heat_." Jade's eyes cut like knives. "Don't _worry_ about it, Vega. I'm not likely to molest you again. You made yourself very clear. You just want to be 'friends,' or at least you did, before you figured out what I was."

"I still want to be friends," Tori said, looking down. She really did. The past week had been miserable, keeping at a distance – so much of a distance that _Robbie_ of all people had noticed. "Is that an option?"

Jade recoiled. "It was _never_ an option, Vega. You're nothing to me. Get the hell out of my life."

She whirled and marched to her car.

Tori leaned back against a SUV and sighed. That had gone... poorly. At least she hadn't been stabbed with a pair of scissors. It could have been worse.

TV*JW TV*JW TV*JW

Jade stabbed her fork into her lunch and growled at it. The scent hit her first. Her throat closed.

"Hey," Tori stood with her tray across the table, smiling with that irritatingly hopeful awkwardness.

Jade rolled her eyes. Fuck it. She had _told_ Tori that they weren't going to be friends, but clearly the idiot alpha had selective deafness. "You may sit," she said. "We're _not_ friends."

Tori clearly only registered the first half of the comment because she smiled like she was more thrilled by Jade's permission than she would be for a record deal.

However, her stupid smile was nothing in comparison to Cat's shriek of pleasure when she saw them sitting together, even if on exactly opposite sides of the table. She threw herself onto the bench and started jabbering excitedly.

"Party! I'm having a party on Saturday! No!" She furrowed her brow. "A movie night! That way you can come, Jade! You'll come, Jade, say you'll come!"

Jade glanced across the table, inadvertently meeting Tori's gaze. Tori offered one of her idiot grins. What was this? Goddamit, this was Tori trying to be friends again, and apparently that meant making eyes at her across the lunch table. Jade glared back. It might be a public service to inform Tori that the 'I want to be friends' menu of actions didn't include 'eye-fucking.'

"There had better be alcohol at this movie night, Cat," Jade snapped. She would need it, to not think about Sunday. "And I pick the movies."

"Yay!"

TV*JW TV*JW TV*JW

It was kind of incredible, and terrifying, how much better Tori felt after Jade started looking at her again. She had hugged Robbie in thanks, who looked like he might pass out, and then smothered Rex in a sack before he could comment. And what was possibly even better, Beck had decided to go hang out with his other friends – a group of cool betas and second tier alphas, and she didn't have to watch him snuggling up to Jade.

The fact that she was super stoked about this gave her a bit of pause, but at the most basic level it made her alpha not want to punch anyone in the face, which was always a good thing.

_Her alpha_. Tori's dad had frowned when he heard her using that term. "It's hard to separate yourself from yourself," he said, "just like it's hard to separate your feelings from your feelings." And maybe he was right. Tori knew that what she _was_ was an alpha, which meant inappropriate feelings about omegas, and the occasional urge to punch Beck Oliver in the face. But she wasn't _just_ an alpha. And she very much wanted to punch Beck in the face anyway, for trying to make out with her while he was dating Jade. How could she separate the wanting to punch Beck from the wanting to punch Beck? How could she separate the way she felt about anything as an alpha from the way she felt as a whole? She knew what she _should_ feel – what the idealized Tori, in her head, the one who was really a beta, and only liked _boys_, would feel. But trying to be who you thought you should be made figuring out who you were a bit more difficult.

"All right! All right!" Sikowitz held out the coconut shell. "A scene! We must do a scene! And who will play the parts? I need a big, tough, alpha male." He waved around a leather jacket. "Tori!" Tori jerked up in startlement and the jacket hit her in the head. She pulled it off her face, then held it up, frowning. Was Sikowitz casting against type, or not?

"A ditzy beauty-obsessed young beta."

"Oh me! Me!" squeaked Cat.

"Robbie!" Robbie got hit in the face by a blonde wig.

"And her tough-guy beta boyfriend... Beck!"

"Awesome," said Beck, making a face.

"And the good little omega who would never _dare_ to annoy her father." Jade scowled and grabbed the pink skirt from his hand.

So, against type then.

"Ohhh," Cat sighed, left out of this one.

"Robbie and Beck! Over there! Be sweet! Be adoring!"

Beck eyed Robbie, who batted his eyelashes under the blonde wig.

"Tori and Jade, front and center!"

Tori shrugged into the leather jacket. Jade stomped onto the stage, looking particularly pissed off, and not in a half-amused sort of way. She looked the sort of angry where all sensible people would turn and run. Had Sikowitz's comment set her off?

"Now!" Sikowitz said. "You're in love, but you can't just come out and say it. You:" he pointed at Jade, "You're unsure because your beloved alpha has been completely chivalrous and hasn't made an attempt to knot you, so you think he doesn't want you. You:" he pointed to Tori. "You're unsure, because you don't want to just charge in using your alpha magnetism and sweep her off her feet. You want her to like you for you. And for a script… this electronics manual!" He passed out copies.

Tori felt herself start to flush. That wasn't true at all. Jade wasn't upset that Tori wasn't trying… but that ugly comment from the Janitor's closet surfaced in her memory. _I put it right in your hand and you can't even take it_. And she wasn't worried that being an alpha would make Jade fall all over herself. If anything it was the reverse!

Oh, wait. These were the roles. _Shit_.

Jade's lip had curled up into a slight sneer as she flipped open the electronics manual. If this was the insecure omega, it was a hugely pissed off one. Jade lifted her chin and batted her eyelashes in a megalomaniacal sort of way. "Oh no," she said flatly. "The digital soundboard 60-Vegas allows the recording and mixing of 1 – 8 different channels of audio."

Tori laughed at the absurdity of the line and looked down at her own 'script.' How were they supposed to express their roles with this sort of dialogue? And what did resisting her alpha magnetism look like? "Or, uh, one full length channel of audio in manual strength, babe." She took a step toward Jade and put her hand out as if to casually cup Jade's hip, and then hesitated. _Three-foot radius! Three-foot radius!_

Jade shot her a look, then reached out and grabbed Tori's hand, shoving it onto her hip, turning into Tori's body. "Relay selection mode?" Jade offered.

Tori blushed.

Sikowitz waved his hands. "Nonononono! This is all wrong! Jade? Why is the sweet omega pushing her alpha around? Tori? Why is the tough alpha turning red? Switch roles!"

_Wait? What_?

Jade stepped out of Tori's arm, then put her own across Tori's shoulders, drawing her to her. She was enveloped in her scent.

Jade cocked her head and offered an easy grin. "I've got 1-8 channels in random or sequence mode in a single switch, baby. Relay _or_ input signal." She wiggled her eyebrows.

Tori laughed, and then suppressed it into a giggle. She shook her head, then reached out and ran her thumb over Jade's collar. "I thought the board was intended for use in displays," she said. It didn't sound _quite_ omega enough.

Tori froze. She broke character. "Sikowitz."

"Mmm?" Sikowitz sucked on his straw and raised his eyebrows.

"I don't- I don't like this scene."

"Why not, Tori?"

Tori shut her eyes and then made a face. She wasn't totally sure why. She didn't like the way it _felt_, to try and force the 'omega'-style character. Jade was an omega, and she might very well feel insecure about something, but she couldn't play the part like _Jade_. _Jade_ couldn't play the part like Jade. "I thought our choices before were fine. I think interpreting the alpha as a little shy and the omega as knowing what she wants is good."

"Oh really?" Sikowitz made a gesture for her to continue.

Tori remembered the bird scene. Sikowitz didn't care about the choices she made as long as she was confident in them. She had to be confident. "People aren't roles. People are people. I think it's old fashioned to always have to play alphas in one way and omegas in another way."

"Interesting," Sikowitz said. "Andre! Play an omega."

Andre shrugged and got on the stage. He stood quietly with his fingers laced together, feet together, eyes demurely lowered.

"Good job, good job, Andre." Sikowitz turned to the class. "That, my students, is what we call a _stereotype_. Have any of you met an omega that actually acts like that all the time."

Tori cast a hesitant glance at Jade, who was standing stiff and unmoving, face pale, teeth clenched. Tori had only seen her mother once, but it seemed like Andre was pulling off her character perfectly.

"And that, if I'm not mistaken, is what Tori is protesting against. Indeed, I agree, playing only a stereotype is _boring_. But what, my dear students, is an omega _like_?"

"No!" Tori yelled. "That's what I mean! You can't ask what an omega is like! There's no such thing as a _generic_ omega!" Tori choked. She was yelling at a teacher. She shouldn't yell at a teacher!

But Sikowitz merely raised his eyebrows. "Do you really believe that your kind has no effect on who you are? That you can be anything?"

"Yes!" Tori snapped.

"And your kind does not affect the way you act, the choices you make?"

"It doesn't. Not necessarily!" It didn't for her mom. It didn't for Jade.

Sikowitz's mouth drew into a contemplative frown. "Even when you actively choose to _not_ act like your kind? Influence is a subtle thing."

Tori choked. This wasn't about Jade. Jade was just standing there – like a robot in standby. This was about _her_. Was choosing to not act like an alpha just another way being an alpha shaped her? How could she know what she ought to be resisting if resisting itself was acting like an alpha? "I… I know," she managed. "But it's not just the stereotypes. It's the choices. We aren't doing anyone any favors by saying that all alphas are tough guys and omegas are scared little girls. It's like saying all alphas have to be businessmen and all omegas have to stay at home. People need to see that there can be other options. We don't always have to make the easy choice."

Tori looked over and saw Jade go white. Her hands clenched into fists, her breath quickened. And then she jumped off the stage and fled the room.

_Oh god. _What had Tori done _now_?

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Jade sat on a chair near the door of the black box, glaring at nothing. There was nothing to glare at. All the props and scenery had been taken away, leaving nothing but black walls and a few rows of chairs. It resembled her life.

The bell had rung a few minutes ago, but she wasn't getting up to go to another class. She couldn't bear it. It all seemed so pointless.

There was a small cough. Tori was hesitating in the doorway. She knocked tentatively on the doorframe. "Hey," she said. "Do you mind if I come in?"

Jade shot her a venomous glare.

"Sorry," Tori said and moved to back out.

"What the hell was that shit you were spouting!" Jade yelled, before she could go. She didn't want _Tori_ there, but it was worse to be alone.

Tori froze. "You mean, about portraying omegas?"

"I _hate_ it when people talk about omegas like they know shit."

Tori stepped carefully inside. "I know," she said, taking a seat one down from where Jade said. "I hate it too, about female alphas."

Jade snorted. "Most people think female alphas don't exist."

"Except for Danneel Harris."

"_Most people_ are pretty sure they're both betas and are just doing it for a publicity stunt."

Tori laughed, then ducked her head.

Jade felt sick. Tori, trying so desperately to be her friend, had served as a distraction for the past few days. But then she had _said_ it, the one thing that Jade didn't want to hear. _It isn't the easy decision. There's nothing easy about this at all._

"I didn't mean to offend you. It's just, my mom talked to me about being an omega when I was younger. About representations, and how that affects how people treat you. She just wanted to work, but everyone thought she was loose because she didn't stay at home. And she had to date alphas, just to have someone looking out for her, because people would do awful things to omegas on their own."

"They still do," Jade said. She sighed. _Tori's mother._ God, she was jealous. What she would give for a life like _that_, making her own choices, making her own money. Even the fact that she ended up with an alpha didn't make it revolting. An alpha without expectations? One who treated her like a _person?_

It felt so weak to want it.

"I won't," Tori said.

Jade looked at her, startled, trying to remember what they had been talking about. "You, Vega? I think I could take you."

"I wouldn't try. I don't want to treat you like you're different… like it _matters._"

Jade sighed. Her life was so different from Tori's it felt like science fiction. "I'm not your mother."

"What? No! I know that!"

Tori's face was hilarious. Jade raised an eyebrow. Did she think Jade was accusing her of an Oedipus complex? That was just… _Tori. _"Not everyone has the same set of choices," she clarified. "You can't blame people for taking the easy one sometimes."

Tori frowned. "But… if you can fight, if you can make a difference, why not choose that?"

"Because of the risk!" Jade snapped at her. "If you play the docile omega you don't get jumped in the street. If you whore yourself out to the biggest baddest alpha, you have someone watching your back. _Life_ is a role. And there are only so many available for omegas. Being the bitch has worked for high school, but I'm _not_ going to be able to keep it up."

"I know it can be dangerous, but things are better now. I mean, it's not like you get sold to the highest bidder."

_That's exactly what it's like._

"I hate you!" Jade hissed.

Tori jerked back. "Why this time?"

"You don't even get it. You don't get how _lucky_ you are!"

Tori gaped. "Why am I _lucky_?"

"You were born lucky." Jade rolled her eyes. "Your _family_ is insanely normal for the shit-show that is the usual alpha-omega stuff. The only thing you have that I wouldn't steal in a heartbeat is Trina. And if you didn't have her, I would hate you even more than I do already, so hang onto that hair shirt, okay?"

Tori chewed on her lip. "I... I'm a female alpha."

"So _what_?" Jade threw up her hands. "What is the big deal with that? You punch people sometimes and you want in my pants - so does _everyone_. You can _lie_. You just say, 'What? I'm a beta.' Get better at _acting_. That's what you want, isn't it? Maybe you wish you could find a closeted male omega and pretend to be a happy beta couple, and maybe you'll just get a nice beta boyfriend and adopt ten babies."

God. What a disgusting thought. But it burned more than it should. Tori wasn't _anything_. She was too pretty, and annoyingly goofy, and disgustingly nice, and she was an _alpha_. Jade _hated_ alphas. But faced with Gavin, any refuge looked attractive. It was weak. She hated herself for even entertaining the idea. But she hated Tori more, for not offering (offering _what_? No business connections, no capital, just a middle-class family connection and a reasonably good singing voice? It was laughable.), hated her for only wanting to be her friend.

"Don't you dare tell me about making the 'easy choice.' You're planning on lying for the rest of your life, because it's _easy_. You're not going to make a play for me and get beaten up by every alpha who thinks you don't deserve me. You're not going to fight to be accepted as real, as human. No one's ever going to treat you like property. You've got it good. And as long as you keep your paws off me when I'm being _tempting_, you're fine. You got into a fight, you punched through someone's locker, and no one cares, because no one thinks your kind even exists. You can just lie. I don't have that luxury. So feel lucky, because you _are_."

Jade couldn't take wanting to smack her stupid face and kiss her at the same time anymore, so she stood and walked out.

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	8. Chapter 8

Alpha Rages and Alpha Rights - a handbook for alphas

As an alpha, your particular hormonal balance makes you particularly susceptible to going into rages. Since rages are embarrassing and can have legal consequences, it is important to be informed about what you can do to control your rages and what rights you have after an assault.

60% of alphas go into a blackout rage at some point in their lives, where they are unable to control their actions or remember what they did while enraged. But nearly 90% of blackout rages are instigated by circumstantial hormonal imbalances - most frequently when the alpha has been exposed to an omega in heat.

Normal, low-stress situations do not inspire rages, but immediately after mating, or when a related omega - either a mate or a member of the pack (child, sibling, etc) - is endangered, a controllable hormonal level can spike, leading to a blackout. Alphas are very possessive with their packmates, and even if there is no actual danger, contact with a foreign alpha may inspire a violent response.

If blackout rages occur in other situations or occur frequently, see a doctor. It may be a result of a hormonal imbalance.

Although in certain circumstances, legal repercussions of rages may be suspended, remember that you are responsible for your own behavior, and even if you are not convicted of a crime, you may regret the results of your actions.

When are alphas likely to be pardoned for committing assault?

1) Immediately after mating.

A just-mated alpha is on a razor's edge of hormones. If planning a mating, make certain that no other alphas will come into the vicinity. Even their presence may spark an attack, and an attack on friends or relatives during the mating process will always cast a pall over the happy event.

2) A foreign alpha having sexual or violent physical contact with a related omega.

An alpha defending an omega from physical violence is always pardonable.

For sexual contact, it is only pardonable if either a. the omega is the alpha's mate, b. the omega is a minor, c. the omega is clearly not consenting to the contact.

Evidence of sexual contact - scent, sound, or visual evidence - is also a mitigating circumstance. A rage inspired by this, but one that includes premeditation and/or pursuit, is more questionable, though many alphas have been pardoned for hunting down the particular alpha that left scent evidence on the omega.

Any other assault an alpha commits is necessarily a crime, and will be treated like conventional assault.

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"Dad?"

Tori's father looked up from frowning over the taxes. "Yes, dear?"

Tori shifted, not sure how to phrase this. "I've been thinking."

"Always a worthwhile exercise."

Tori punched him in the arm. She shook her head. "I've been thinking about being an alpha."

He put down his pen then, giving her his full attention. He swiveled around and patted his leg as if offering a place to sit on his lap. Tori raised an eyebrow. How old did he think she was? She pulled up a chair right next to him instead and curled against him.

"I was never really happy with being an alpha."

Her father sighed. "I can't help but think that was my fault. Your mother marshaled me into giving you the 'talk,' but I didn't know what to say. I never really had someone talk me through it. Locker room gossip, where everyone was obsessed with 'measuring' and which omegas had gone into heat, was all the help I had in figuring it out. And I didn't know what it would _mean_ to you. I still don't, really."

Tori nodded. "Mainly, it was embarrassing. But it didn't help that you figured it out because I was..." _cuddling up to mom when she was going into heat._

Her father laughed.

"Or that you kept laughing at me!"

He gave her a squeeze around her shoulders. "I don't know why you worry about it so much. Being an alpha isn't all of who you are. It isn't all of who _I_ am, it isn't even most of it."

"But _you're_ different."

"Growing up poor doesn't make me different. People think alpha is synonymous with privilege, but it's really not. You have to work just as hard as anyone, though not as hard as most omegas do."

Tori nodded. "Jade said I was lucky, to have a family that was normal."

Just then, Trina started to sing, loudly, from her room.

Her father winced. "I wouldn't call us _normal_." He petted Tori's head. "Being an alpha doesn't make your life magically different - for the better or the worse. It has an effect, but you make of it what you make of it. You choose what you choose."

"What if I choose to stop hiding?"

Her father turned to look at her face. "From everyone? Or from yourself?"

Tori wrinkled her nose. "You think I'm hiding from myself?"

"Uh..."

Tori laughed at his amusing face. "I was. But I'm going to stop. I don't think I'll ever be able to figure out which parts of me are alpha and which ones would be there anyway, so it's all me. It's all Tori. Tori's the one who can smell omegas and wants to punch idiot alphas. No one else."

"That's a relief to hear."

"But I meant from everyone." Tori glanced down. "It's easy to lie. It's easy to pretend. But it's wrong."

"You can't just dismiss a choice that could protect your life and safety as _wrong."_

_"I know that_." Tori shook her head. "I'm not rushing into this. I'm just... thinking about it. Small steps. LIke... telling my friends."

Her father nodded. "You could do that."

"Can you teach me to fight?"

Her father's eyes widened. "What?"

"If I'm going to do this, I need to be prepared."

"No, Tori. If you ever get into a situation where someone's attacking you, you run, you get out as fast as you can. You know that. We've done self-defence. You don't need to know how to hurt someone else."

"But what if I need to protect someone? What if I run into trouble that I can't just run away from?" Tori frowned. "If you don't teach me, I'll ask Trina."

Her father let out a breath. "The most important thing to learn is try to end it as fast as you can. The longer things go, the worse they get. Stay smart, stay out of range, and try to incapacitate your opponent quickly."

Tori nodded fiercely.

"I can show you a few techniques, but use the strongest muscle you have, Tori." He tapped her on the head. "That one."

"I don't _want_ to fight. But," she flexed her hands, "I tend to punch things, and it hurts. I think maybe I'm doing it wrong."

Her father frowned, then stood up and pulled her to the center of the floor. "Make a fist," he said. "Yes! I thought I taught you this already! You're doing that all wrong, here, put your thumb here, now keep your wrist straight."

When Tori's mother came home she found the couch cushions on the carpet and her husband and daughter doing rolls and talking about low centers of gravity and taking out an attacker at the knee.

"_Alphas_."

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The tequila tasted like piss, but the more Jade drank the less she could feel. Her brain buzzed numbly and it was a relief to be able to think about the next day without wanting to recoil in horror.

Cat had gone to the bathroom and she had taken the opportunity to stagger to the table and empty half the bottle without being watched by her disapproving gaze. If she got drunk enough she might even be able to handle the My Little Pony movie that Cat was desperate to watch (the old one, with the Smooze).

"Jade, Jade. I think you've had enough of that."

Jade spun, bared her teeth and snapped at Tori, clasping the tequila bottle into her chest. "You don't get to tell me what to do, _alpha_. You don't have any power over me!"

Tori stepped back raising her hands in surrender, but frowning curiously at her. Jade liked it when Tori frowned. She was prettier when she looked upset. She wanted to see her cry. She wouldn't look like such a dork then.

"I don't have any power over you, but I'm your friend. As a friend, I'm saying you're going to be less than happy tomorrow if you keep going like that."

Jade smiled and shook her head. She sauntered toward Tori and twisted a lock of her hair around her finger. She smelled delicious this close up, the alpha musk softened by strawberries and vanilla, and soap. It was nice when an alpha actually bothered to use soap. "Tomorrow's shit anyway. Throwing up all morning will be a nice distraction."

"Jade," Tori's hand landed on her arm, cupping it gently, and Jade didn't mind much. She wasn't in heat or even verging on it. She could handle Tori's touchy tendencies and pretty hair. "What's happening tomorrow? You've been... kind of sad lately. I thought it was my fault, but..."

Jade laughed. "Nothing to do with you, this time. You just make it worse."

"What?"

Jade tugged Tori onto the couch and settled in next to her, laying her head on her shoulder and breathing her in. "Your mom's really cool."

"Um, you know, my mom should really not come up in all our conversations. It's kind of creepy."

Jade lifted her head and laughed in her face. "What? Annoyed that she's hotter than you?"

"What? No! Wait... she is?"

Jade tapped her nose, and Tori's breath hitched in her throat. "Face it, To-o-ri. _Trina_ is hotter than you. I mean, she'd only be attractive to a person if she were dead, but as a corpse, she smokes you." She completed it with a gesture that shaped a set of curves in the chest area – ones that Tori really lacked. Not that she wasn't _curious_, to see how she looked with her shirt off.

"Jade! Don't - _say_ stuff like that! It's gross!"

Jade leaned back against Tori's arm. Stuff like that? Stuff about death? It shouldn't be so tempting. "I'd make a pretty corpse too," she said softly. "I mix my own poisons, you know. I could do it. Would you cry? I'd like that - to see you crying over me." Jade's eyes started to burn, and that wasn't the point. She shoved the tequila away from her, dropping it on the rug. "Shit," she said, rubbing her eyes, and knowing the eyeliner was going to smear everywhere. "Shit," she said again.

"Jade..."

"No!" Jade yelled at her. "No. This is you. This is _your_ fault. My life has been shit forever, and then you show up with your stupid family and your stupid bambi faces, like you're not a threat, like you're different, like you'd make me not hate myself for choosing slavery, but you can't fix things. I can't _choose_ you!"

Tori's eyes went wide. She swallowed. "Would you?" The words were tiny, hardly there, half a whisper half a murmur. Her face was tentative, as if she didn't know whether she wanted the answer to be yes or no.

Jade's eyes narrowed. "You just want to be _friends_, Vega. Stop dangling your ass in my face like a piece of meat."

"I- um, just, I mean... friends first." Tori was as red as she could get, and Jade grinned, leaning in close until their noses touched.

"Am I giving you a sexuality crisis, Vega? Or is it just my boobs?" She rose up on her knees until Tori's face was right at chest level and started to lean forward. Tori shrieked slightly, and squirmed to escape, very unconvincingly.

Jade laughed and fell off of the couch, rescuing her bottle of tequila from the floor. She climbed back up again, undoing the top and taking a drink, then pushing it toward Tori's mouth. "Here, your turn. It helps with the crisis."

Tori chewed on her lower lip and shook her head. "I'm okay I think."

"Excellent." Jade flopped over, leaning on her shoulder. "It's cool though. You'll get over me. And I'll be over you soon. And then we can be friends." She sighed. "I'll need friends. I'll need you."

"So we're friends now?" The hope in Tori's eyes was sickening.

"I've lowered my standards to accept you. Feel grateful."

She could feel more than see Tori smile. "I do."

"Now be a good alpha and kiss my feet in appreciation." Jade kicked off her boot, swiveled around, and brought up her socked foot to Tori's face level. Tori's eyes widened in shock. Jade started to laugh at the hilarious look on her face. But then Tori took hold of her foot, gently, and Jade's laugh caught in her throat. Tori ducked her eyes and then bent her head to press a light kiss to the top of Jade's foot.

All of the desire that had gone oh so pleasantly missing since her heat had ended suddenly rushed right back into her. Jade's stomach turned over. Her thighs clenched together involuntarily, her nipples suddenly hard and sensitive against her bra.

"Oh, I should..." Tori slid off the couch and knelt on the floor, keeping hold of her foot, and brought it to her mouth one more time. "Better?"

Jade just stared at her. "_What?_" she managed.

Tori cocked her head to the side. "Well." She shrugged with a shy and yet confident smile on her face. "Sikowitz said it. If you're going to play a dog, _be a dog_."

Jade scrambled up off the couch. "I'm going to go- over there, and pass out. If you follow me, I'm not responsible for what I do, okay?"

Jesus Christ. She wasn't anywhere near her heat and she was considering going through Cat's drawers to find her vibrator. (If she had one... that her brother hadn't done something unspeakable with.)

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Tori slid back into the movie room from the bathroom and found Jade passed out in Cat's lap. She settled in next to them. Cat cast her a curious glance. "What were you two doing while I was gone?"

Tori shrugged, feeling shy about it. "Nothing really, just talking. We're friends now."

"Yay!"

Tori leaned back against the couch, staring at the TV without seeing it. She looked over at Jade, her eye-makeup a mess, drooling into Cat's leg, and reached out, stroking her hair.

Cat gave her a soft, interested look. Tori flushed. "I- I'm just worried about her. She seems... off."

"You love her."

"Cat!" Tori squeaked. That was way too far too fast! She was just getting used to the words: 'kind of like' and maybe: 'amazing boobs.'

"It's okay. I love her too. And she needs it."

Tori swallowed. Okay, that kind of love, maybe she could handle that. It wasn't quite the twist in her stomach when Jade flashed her kitten-in-the-cream smile. It was just caring about someone who needed it. She wished Jade would explain why she needed it. Caring was just an exercise in misery if you couldn't actually help. And the way Jade had looked today, when she had started to tear up, it seemed like something that she might not be able to help, and the thought made Tori feel even sicker than she already did.

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Jade stumbled home in the morning, puking in the bushes on the way. Her mother looked up when she came in and quickly moved to pour a glass of water. She came near her and breathed in.

"Oh," she said, following it with a slight hiss of breath.

Jade rinsed her mouth and spat, then took a sip, pressing a hand to her temple. "Asprin?"

"You need to change and shower, Jade, your father-"

"Your father will what?" Jade's dad strode into the room and grimaced at his hungover progeny. Then he sniffed. His face went still and cold. "Were there _alphas_ at that party I let you go to?" He put a hand in Jade's chest, shoving her into the counter. She gasped, the wind knocked out of her.

"_Dad_."

He drew his hand back, made a fist and paused, frowning. He opened his hand and then swung, cracking his palm across her cheek, _so it wouldn't leave a mark._

Her head snapped to the side. She hissed in air. Her hand came up to cup her cheek.

"What do you think you're doing, _Jade_? You've known the rules for years. You don't get close to alphas. You don't let them get their grubby paws on you. And _today?_ _Today_ is the day you come home with alpha all over you! Are you _trying _to ruin everything for me?"

"No sir," Jade whimpered. Her head was pounding and she needed to puke and her face stung viciously. Her eyes burned.

Jade's father leaned close and took a long sniff. "He didn't knot you."

"No sir."

"And how does _your_ alpha compare to Gavin?"

Jade couldn't help the weak laugh that came out. _Her_ alpha? Tori? Tori compared to _Gavin_? "In height, money and education? Not at all." In about a hundred other ways… _much more feminine, better voice, would never, ever, think of buying me._

"Would I approve of him?"

"_Definitely_ not."

"If I _ever_ smell him on you again, you will regret it. And if I ever catch him with you, I'll kill him. If he knots you, I will hunt him down and kill him. Do you understand this?"

Jade swallowed and gave a slight nod.

Her father stroked her hair and ran his hand down her cheek. "You're my responsibility, Jade. I will do whatever it takes to take care of you."

"Yes sir," she whispered.

"Now be a good girl and jump in the shower. I expect you to be your bright and charming self for Gavin."

He turned and strode out. Jade slumped, bringing her hand up to cup her burning cheek. The one he had caressed felt even worse. Her mother set two asprin on the counter beside her.

Jade turned on her. "How can you just stand there? How can you let him do this to me?" This was _her mother_, and yet she seemed to care even less about her than _Tori's_ mother did.

"You know I can't..."

"Why don't you _leave _him?"

"How could I leave him?" her mother said softly. "He's my mate."

And her mother had had as little choice in the matter as Jade did. Jade grabbed the asprin off the counter and fled.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey everyone! Happy Holidays! Here's some angst!**

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Mating: Celebrating your Happy Event

Mating is a wonderful and happy occasion. Now that you've decided to mate and applied for the mating serum, it's time to plan your celebration.

Question 1: Will you wait for a heat or do you plan to mate between heats?

Although enjoying your celebration for a full three day heat cycle is a wonderful thing, artificially induced mating can be blocked by an excess of naturally occurring hormones. It is generally more reliable to induce a mating heat in the base period of one's natural cycle.

An artificially induced mating heat usually lasts only twenty-four hours, allowing you to plan your post mating celebration without too much delay. But to be safe, it is best to stay in seclusion for at least 48 hours. After the heat fades, the elevated protective feelings of the alpha may linger and cause problems.

Question 2: Will I love my partner more after we mate?

The answer to this is _yes!_ For a little while.

Mating releases many chemicals in the brain that inspire love, trust and physical attraction. The increased sensitivity to your mate's scent and sexual responsiveness will remain, but the myth of instant true love after mating is a myth. Usually, the chemical response plus physical and emotional togetherness is enough to build a bond that will last for a long time. But without reinforcement, this love, like any, can fade.

The Anatomy of a Mating Heat

Step 1: Injection: the omega injects the mating chemicals into her system. Usually it takes 4-5 hours for the omega to go into full heat and become receptive to mating.

Step 2: Seclusion: The alpha and omega meet in a private area. If they need food or water, a beta or other omega should provide it. Though most alphas retain a good deal of self-control, it is best for other alphas to stay away and not provoke a violent reaction.

Step 3: Mating: Although mating does not necessarily require sexual coitus, skin to skin contact with the alpha's scent gland is required. It must be maintained for long enough for it to activate and secrete fluid. Since most alphas have preputial scent glands (located in the foreskin of the penis), unprotected sexual contact is usually the most convenient method.

Step 4: Knotting: Knotting, though an optional part of the mating process, takes on new meaning and joy when performed within seclusion. It is an opportunity for the mated pair to linger together, communing emotionally, and describing to each other the new and wonderful feelings being mated has given them.

Mating is a time of peace and joy when both partners are filled with love, and their feelings, already intense, become deeper and more fulfilling.

Step 5: Celebration: Though historically mating has been a private affair, followed only by the formation of a new household and pups, today many alpha-omega pairs choose to follow the beta tradition of marriage. A public ceremony, affirming your commitment to each other in front of family and friends, offers an opportunity to make a process that some refer to as simply a 'biological phenomenon' into a sacred and community focused celebration. But even if the marriage ceremony is not desirable, a party in which the newly mated pair meet their friends and family as bonded and joined, can be a wonderful culmination to the happy event.

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Jadelyn West (16) and Gavin Marks (26) will be mated in on the fifth of November at the West home. Following their seclusion a party will be held at the penthouse apartment in the Marks Holdings Building, where Mr. Marks will introduce his new mate to society. Mr. Marks is the youngest CEO of Holdings Corp, and is a graduate of Princeton University and the Harvard School of Business. Miss West is the daughter of notable capitalist Hadrian West, founder and head of West Enterprises.

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There was a knock on the door. David Vega answered it.

"Tori! It's for you!" There was a slight pause. "It's a _boy_." He sounded not entirely approving.

"I'm in the yard!"

"Hey Tori."

Tori glanced up, surprised. "Beck!" She had expected Andre, or maybe Robbie, but not _Beck_.

He gave her a sweet smile. "So, how was the thing at Cat's?"

Tori swallowed. "Uh, good." Jade had gotten drunk and passed out on Cat's lap. She had kissed Jade's foot. She was really trying not to think about it.

"So, um, I really like you Tori."

"Thanks Beck! I like you too." She made to punch him in the arm. He looked puzzled.

"Great. I was wondering if you might want to go out some time."

Tori froze. "I- What? What about _Jade?_"

"We broke up."

"You broke _up? Just now_?" Was that why she was a liquor-soaked mess?

"A couple of days ago. It wasn't working out."

"Is she _okay_?"

Beck frowned. "Tori, she's fine. We just ended it. She has some family shit going down, and well, I was... looking at other people."

Other people. Like _her_.

God, two months ago Tori would have jumped at the chance. Beck was an incredibly attractive beta. He was sweet, and a good kisser. She stared at him, at his pretty face and casual shrug. She wasn't even tempted.

"While you were with _Jade?"_

"What?" Beck's forehead furrowed. "Tori. This isn't _about_ Jade. And why does it matter to you? You aren't even friends with her."

"Yes," Tori said fiercely. "I _am_."

"You haven't gone near her for the past week."

"We made up! On Wednesday. I was just... a little messed up when she went into heat."

Beck wrinkled his nose. "You and me both. It was like three days early, and she kept digging her nails into my back." He rubbed his side. "I hate that."

Tori swallowed. It sounded... kind of sexy to her. "I could smell it," she said softly. "It seemed... strong."

Beck turned to her, lips drawing into a frown. "You could _smell _it? Betas aren't supposed to be able to smell heat."

_Oh, shit._ "I never said I was a beta."

Beck stared at her, his face a rictus of disbelief. Then he collapsed into one of the lawn chairs. "You're not a _beta_?" He smacked his forehead. "Damn. Why can't I find an awesome beta girl who I might actually have a chance with?"

_What?_ So that was the end of his offer? But he had... "Did you break up with Jade because she's an _omega_?"

"I have the _worst_ taste in women."

"That's _not_ fair, Beck. You can't just dismiss huge groups of people because they're different kinds. Biology isn't destiny!"

"Tori!" Beck yelped, sounding exasperated. "Biology is _life_!"

"What?"

"I like Jade. She's crazy, but in an awesome way, most of the time. But as a couple, we just don't _fit_."

"What do you mean?"

"We don't line up. Biology is where we live, and you omega girls-"

Tori swallowed a protest.

"-you live it every month. I know it's not just 'get knotted and it's all okay,' because Jade has drilled that into my head, but I'm a regular beta guy. I like regular sex on a regular basis. You omega girls - you're as kinky as fuck and have endurance like _whoa, _for three days a month. I can't get it up after a couple hours."

Tori made a face.

Beck stared at her. "Oh come on. If you're an omega, you can't be a virgin."

"I _am_ a virgin."

Beck's eyebrows shot up. "How do you deal with the heats?"

"I don't go into heat."

"But you're an omega. You said you weren't a beta."

Tori forced a smile. She had missed her chance to lie to his face. But this was her plan, right? Tell her friends. And Beck was... sort of a friend. "I'm an alpha, actually."

"_What?"_ Beck shot up from his chair. "But you're a _girl_!"

"We're 5% of the population!" Tori yelled back. "I exist!"

Beck chewed the air for a moment. Then he winced. "Yeah, of course. I'm sorry. I've just never..."

"Met a girl alpha before?"

"Yeah." Beck's eyebrows drew down as he stared at her. "It's _you_ isn't it?"

Tori pinched her lips together. "It's me what?"

"_You_ fucked up my relationship with Jade. Our arrangement was fine until you showed up. She started acting all weird, clingy and demanding, and she was such a super bitch to you. And then that heat, it was early, and way intense, and she kept looking at me like I was dirt, even while she was riding me. But what was different was _you_. You were always hanging around us."

"Wait! I didn't..."

"I thought you liked _me_!" He choked out a laugh. "You wanted to knot my girlfriend."

Tori's mouth opened in horrified shock. "I'm not knotting anyone!"

Beck's eyes slid down her, lingering a lot lower than was appropriate, and Tori jerked the patio table in front of herself. His gaze shifted to her hands.

"Well, fist her then."

Tori's jaw dropped.

"What do girl alphas _do_ in bed?"

Tori pointed at herself with both thumbs. "VIRGIN!"

Beck rolled his eyes. Then he sighed, chewing on his lip. "Are you _into_ Jade?"

Tori made a face. How was she supposed to answer _that?_ "I - look, just because I'm an alpha, it doesn't mean..."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Beck said. "Sorry for getting weird. Just... if you _are_ into her, Jade has a lot of family stuff going on right now. It's not a good time for her. I don't think it will ever be a good time for her, honestly. You don't really have a chance, you know, even if you wanted one." He sighed. "And I don't have a chance with you. See you around, Tori."

Tori curled up in her lawn chair, feeling slightly sick. So if that was what it was like to out herself as an alpha to a _friend_, yuck.

At least Jade already knew. Cat and Andre couldn't be as bad as Beck. And how _nice_ of Beck to let her know that she didn't have a chance with Jade. She wasn't even totally sure if she _did_ want one. _Oh god, who was she kidding, Jade had gotten up on her lap and pushed her breasts into her face, and she was going to say no to _that_?_

But apparently she had never had a chance.

Fuck.

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The classy hotel had a tearoom on the mezzanine. Jade, in kitten heels, an updo, and a blinding headache, strode in and mounted the stairs.

The sight of Gavin, leaning back in the coffee-shop chair, made her want to vomit. His dark hair was slicked back, sleeves of his coat rucked up over his elbows. Fine, he was handsome, he was a complete and non-defective alpha, he was everything her father wanted. He was everything she was supposed to want. But Tori had kissed her foot, had got on her knees, voluntarily. _Fuck_.

It didn't matter. That wasn't something she could have. Gavin was the one who sat in her future. It wasn't worth fighting it. If her dad threw her out, Tori wasn't going to pick up the pieces, and she would hate her if she did.

"Jade!" Gavin grinned. "You prefer that, right? To Jadelyn?"

Jade nodded and stiffly took the seat across from him.

"You look lovely today."

"You don't have to compliment me," Jade said flatly back. "You're buying me. And it's not like I don't know that I'm attractive already."

Gavin laughed. "I knew I liked you." He leaned over. "Look, Jade. I'm not one of those old fashioned alphas. I know you're a person. I know you have things that you want from your life, and that they might not be me. I'm not trying to make you miserable. This is a deal between me and your dad, but it's also a deal between you and me. Your dad can't guarantee that you'll be the mate I need. Only you can do that. So if you really would rather anything else but me, tell me right now, and we'll call this off."

Jade sank. Part of her had wanted him to be a raging asshole, something, anything that would make it worth it to face her father's anger. But he was trying to be nice. "I... You're a better option than some of the other proposals," she said. He was young, not physically revolting, and he was willing to give her some control over her life. It was a good deal. It was probably the best deal she was ever going to get.

Gavin laughed again. "I can imagine."

But she had power. Not much, but maybe enough to make a different. _God, she didn't want this._ "So what are the bargaining points?" Jade stuck her chin out.

"Well, for one, I'm totally in favor of you finishing high school. There's old fashioned and then there's _archaic._ I'll even pay for college, if it's local, and you study something reasonable."

Jade nodded slowly. "What's reasonable?"

Gavin shrugged. "You're into drama, right? I'm not comfortable with my mate being a professional actress, but school productions are fine."

"I want to write scripts."

Gavin wrinkled his nose. "That's a little... Romance scripts?"

"Horror movies, mainly," Jade said flatly, fingering the scissors concealed in her pocket.

"You want a career in that?"

Jade tensed. "I thought I could submit scripts. I wouldn't... network." It was the kiss of death for most screenwriters, but it was better than nothing.

"If you use a penname, fine."

Jade swallowed and nodded quickly. That was good. That was almost good enough.

"You're on birth control, right?"

Jade flinched. "Yes."

"You can stay on it until you finish high school."

"How many kids do you _want_?" Jade bit out. She turned eighteen and then she was going to be breeding until she died? Hell no!

"I'm not unreasonable. I just want an alpha son. As many as it takes until I get an alpha son."

Jade choked. That could be one or a hundred. "No," she said. "I need a cap. I can't just..."

Gavin blinked. "A cap? Five. If you haven't given me an alpha son by the time we have five children, I won't make you have any more."

Jade thought she was going to be sick. "And the sex?"

"You'll be my mate. It won't be onerous." He grinned. "I expect you to make yourself available to me and only me during your heats."

Jade nodded.

"And, of course, in between."

Jade shook her head. "I don't like sex, and I don't have a sex drive between my heats. My doctor says I have an abnormally low base state for hormones." That _had_ been true. Lately the wild spikes of desire had been more frequent, though… not unpredictably so.

Gavin raised an eyebrow. "Really? To be honest, I work hard and I travel a lot. I'm not making any promises, but I doubt I'd be after it all that frequently. How about we give you vetoes."

Jade narrowed her eyes. "How many?"

"Three. You can have three _headaches_ a month, and I'll deal. But no more than three."

"How long do vetoes last?"

Gavin gave her a mildly impressed look. "Twenty-four hours. Is that reasonable?"

Jade nodded shortly. "But what if you stop traveling and want it every fucking night? I'm not going to like it."

"You can bargain. If you don't want to get fucked, we can make other arrangements."

Jade glared. "I don't do oral."

Gavin smiled. "I won't force you. But if you want to offer it in trade, that's up to you."

Jade covered her face with her hand and took a slow breath. She never wanted to be within three feet of a knot, and here she was, bargaining her life away.

"Otherwise, basically I need you to manage my house and host my business colleagues with parties. You need to look and act appropriately."

Jade nodded. "And I can... see my friends?"

Gavin shrugged. "Appropriate friends." He frowned. "I might have affairs," he said. "On my trips. I will always be safe with that."

Jade stared at him. "Can I have affairs?"

Gavin guffawed. "What? You'll be mated to me. You won't _want_ to have affairs."

Jade shifted, brows lowered, registering her displeasure. "Could I anyway?"

"No," Gavin said. "Not with alphas."

"Not with _alphas_?"

"Oh, you have that beta boyfriend, don't you?" He looked disgusted. "No, no affairs."

"We broke up. It was just an arrangement," Jade said. "It was supposed to end when I got mated."

Gavin nodded. "Did you have anyone in mind?"

Jade laughed. "No. I just wanted to see if I could. I don't have a sex drive, remember. You won't have to worry about that." Oh she could lie, lie, lie. But that was what you got for dating an actress.

Gavin grinned. "Well, let's say I'll consider it on a case by case basis. If you happen to hanker after beta girls, we could totally work out an arrangement."

"What about alpha girls?" Jade asked without thinking.

Gavin blinked. "Alpha girls?"

"They exist," Jade said sharply.

"Well," Gavin made a face. "If you find one, introduce me. That might be... interesting."

Jade's hands clenched so tightly on the tablecloth that it ripped.

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On Monday, Jade looked different, somehow. She stomped through the crowds, hair flowing out behind her. Tori leaned against her locker and let herself look. Her eyes lingered on the curve of her face, and, mmm, various lower ones, enjoying the way she snapped at anyone who got in her way. Maybe she didn't have a chance, but alphas were all about risk, and Tori was embracing being an alpha these days.

"Jade!" Tori caught up to her, just as the bell rang.

"Oh god, _you_."

Tori grinned and moved closer. Jade flinched. Tori reached out and caught her hand. It was warm, in fingerless gloves, and Tori took a quick breath, trying not to react. "Hey," she said. "Are you okay?"

Jade bared her teeth. "I'd so much rather you _not_ care!"

Tori shrugged, keeping the hand pressed between hers, "You're not going to stop me."

Jade sighed. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. "You're insufferable."

"And yet you want to be friends."

"I was _drunk_!"

"That's okay." Tori grinned. Her annoyance was nothing but attractive. "I'll get you to admit it sober."

"You're like a dog with a bone aren't you?" Jade grimaced. "And I'm the bone."

"Kinda."

"Stop looking at me like an idiot alpha."

Tori just grinned wider. "But I _am_ an idiot alpha."

Jade stiffened in surprise. "We're in the _hallway_!"

"No one's listening," Tori said. The halls were mostly empty by now. She couldn't help but smile. Jade cared - in her own special way. It was nice. "And... maybe I don't want to take the easy way out."

"What?" Jade's tone went suddenly sharp and ugly. Tori had expected this, she'd expected resistance. She just had to forge on through.

"I don't _have_ to lie. And I don't want to."

Jade's lip curled. "You're serious? You're going to out yourself?"

That was the plan. Tori had so many plans, but way too many counted on Jade. "Not, like, all at once. But I don't want to spend my life hiding."

"You're serious?" Jade stared. "There's no _point_ to it!" Jade jerked her hand out of Tori's grip. "Why would you throw away a chance to be _normal_?"

Tori looked at her and swallowed a knot in her throat. "There is a point to it. I just... I like you." Jade's face went suddenly, desperately still. "My alpha... she _really_ likes you, but my brain likes you too." Tori reached out and let her fingers brush down her cheek. "And even if it was just hanging out a little more, or if you would give me a chance-"

"I can't."

Tori straightened in surprise. She had expected a look of utter disgust, or a smart remark, or just a "NO" and a storm out, but she hadn't expected that look of devastation.

"Jade."

"NO! I _can't_! I can't give you a chance. I don't have any chances left to give! And you can't _do _this, out yourself. You can't fight for me! You can't be _brave_! You're just screwing up my _life_!"

"What's _wrong_ with your life, Jade? You have to tell me! I want to _help_!"

"You can't help! You can only make it worse! Your stink hanging on me - "

"Jade." Tori pulled at her hand, and Jade ripped it away from her.

"Don't TOUCH me! You can't save me! Just give it up and _submit_! You're good at that."

"I'm not going to give it up! I care about you. I'm not going to submit or shut up when it's _you_."

Jade's lip curled. "Want to bet?"

"_Jade_."

Jade jerked her in, kissing her, briefly, roughly. It was half teeth, so hard that Tori tasted blood. Tori opened to it, submitting without even trying.

Then Jade shoved her away. She spun, and stormed off, leaving Tori sprawled against the lockers, stunned and desperately turned on.

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_Oh, god, oh god, oh god._

Jade hurried to the bathroom and scrubbed and scrubbed, trying to get Tori's alpha stink off of her. Why was this happening now? Why was Tori suddenly deciding to get over her issues and ask her out right exactly when she needed her to stay as far away as possible? It was her fault, Jade knew, for getting drunk and falling all over her, enough to get her father's wind up, and she had been So Good at staying away from alphas until now!

She had to keep her away. Tori had to stay away until Jade was safely mated, and her father couldn't just kill her friends if he felt like it. Tori had to get AWAY from her. And worse, she wanted to know what was happening. What if she went poking around Jade's house to figure it out? What if Jade's dad caught her?

Jade paused, straightening, staring at herself in the mirror. Who was she? Some cowering fucking omega? No.

She smiled.

Sinjin, watching on his CCTV of the girl's bathroom, shook in terror at that smile.

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Tori had been expecting rejection. But Jade had completely freaked out at her, kind of like... kind of like she wanted to say yes, but couldn't. And Jade had kissed her, again, and _god_ Tori wanted that. She wanted more of it. And if Jade had a problem that needed to be fixed, she had to find out what it was.

But Jade seemed to have disappeared. Cat, Robbie and Andre had collected around her table, Beck, thankfully, was staying far away, but Jade wasn't there. It was fifteen minutes in to the half-hour lunch, and she still hadn't reappeared.

"Hello everyone!" And then there she was, on the roof of the school, with a bullhorn.

"Hey Jade!" came a chorus of shouts, mostly from the alpha tables.

Jade grinned and waved down at them. Tori just stared. What was she _doing_?

"Now I have just a _super special_ announcement for y'all," she continued, in her southern fake-Tori voice.

"Oo, ooo! Let us know, baby!"

"You still need a knot? Because this one comes for free!"

"Sorry boys," Jade said. "It's not an auction. None of you can afford the entry fee for _my_ auction. It's just an announcement, about a _special_ friend of ours, Miss Sweet Sally Peaches, also known as, _Tori Vega_."

Oh no. Tori couldn't breathe. Jade couldn't be doing what she thought she was doing. Had Tori pissed her off that much?

"Now our _darling_ Miss Vega has a sweet little secret that she's decided she wants you all to know, so I'm doing the honors."

_No, please no._

"Tori Vega is one of those oh so rare and special things," she paused. Tori's stomach clenched. "A female alpha." Jade's lips curled in a cheshire smile. "And _she_ just tried to make a play for _me_."

She'd done it. Tori shoved herself up from the table, and then froze. Every eye in the cafeteria was on her, everyone was watching her, everyone _knew_.

Tori turned and fled.


	10. Chapter 10

**And we are plunging toward the climax!**

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Cat found Jade back in the girls bathroom, clenching the sink until her knuckles were white, and trying desperately not to throw up.

"Why'd you do that, Jade?" Cat asked, softly, not judging her. Cat never judged anyone.

"Because she _deserved_ it," Jade shot back, bitterly.

"Did she?"

Jade turned to face her, hands clenched into fists. The look on Tori's face - the betrayal. Oh, Jade was glad that _she_ was the one who had put it there. No one else was allowed to hurt Tori _that much. _ "She wouldn't stay out of my _business_. She was giving me all this bullshit about not taking the easy way out, saying she didn't want to lie about being an alpha anymore." Jade forced a grin. It was mostly teeth. "I made her put her money where her mouth is. Too bad it turned out that she couldn't handle it."

"That was cruel, Jade."

"Life is cruel." Jade slumped against the sink. _God_, was life cruel sometimes. She had _never_ wanted an alpha. She had never understood why all those other omegas found them so irresistible - stupid, immature boys. It had been easy to keep herself _pure_ for whoever her father finally picked out. And then he did, he finally picked out an alpha. The one thing she had dreaded paired with the one thing that she had thought impossible. The alpha she had to have and the alpha that she wanted. And what had she done now? Bite and claw at the alpha that she wanted so the alpha she had to have would have full access. "Fuck."

"What's wrong?"

"She asked me out," Jade said quietly.

"What? But that's awesome! You'd be so cute together! You'd have the cutest-"

Jade covered Cat's mouth with one hand and choked her with the other. "Don't say another word."

Cat nodded, her heart fluttering panicked in her throat, under Jade's hand.

"None of that matters." Jade sighed. "She asked me out _now_. When it's too late."

Cat frowned, but kept her mouth shut.

"Just... I'll be gone at the end of this week. If she does come back to school, keep her away, okay? I'll be missing for a week, probably, and when I get back, I'll be... different. It won't be an issue anymore. Just don't let her come looking for me. That was the point, really, of doing what I did. So she wouldn't get in trouble coming after me."

Cat's eyes were so wide that she looked like her eyeballs would tear down her face. But Jade had told her to not say another word, and she didn't. She just threw herself at Jade and tried to hug her. Jade fought her off.

She couldn't deal with that right now.

She couldn't deal with anything right now.

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Tori ran all the way home.

"Tori, honey? What's wrong?" Her mother had been sitting at the kitchen table, working, but she rose as Tori burst through the door, sweating, eyes streaming.

"I- I can't." Tori stumbled into her mother's arms and cried.

Her mom petted her head.

"It's not _fair_!" Tori lifted her head. "Why would she _do_ that? I thought..." _I thought she liked me, even if she was trying so hard to keep it a secret._ "I don't know if I can go back there." She hung her head. "She told the whole school."

And in some ways, what was worse was not that Jade told them that Tori was an alpha, but that she had told them all, very clearly, that Tori wasn't good enough for _her_.

What was the _point_?

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Jade's manicure was perfect, and her toenails were still drying. Everything was scheduled, everything was ready, she was the last thing to be painted and decorated, dressed and posed, like a doll.

There were too many things to ready for her to go to school. But her father hadn't bothered to tell her teachers, or let her tell them. He didn't know she was going back. It was going to be a hassle.

But Gavin had promised she'd go back. She just wished she knew how long he was going to keep her at home first. These things spread and expanded to fill all the possible time available - one week of preparations - one week of parties, being shown around like a prize. Or would it be two? Three? By then it would be winter break. Had he planned a trip?

Maybe it would be better to never come back.

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Tori's parents hadn't pushed her to go back to school. She was glad of that. She hated that she had run. But why would she have stayed. There was one stupid high-school reason that she had even thought of outing herself - there was one reason that would have been worth it, and that had blown up in her face.

Andre, Cat and Robbie had sent her a lot of text messages. Some were supportive, others were asking her when she was coming back to school (A large proportion of Cat's were just incomprehensible.) She didn't respond.

On Thursday, someone knocked on her door. Tori opened it.

"Hey," Doug said.

Tori straightened. "What? What are you doing here?"

Doug grinned. "Beck let me know what was going down. I figured I'd drop in and let you know I've got your back."

Tori stared at him blankly. "Why?"

"Beck says you're all right, and you were cool at the party the other day, kicking some ass. One of those girls was my cousin, so I figured had some gratitude to spare."

"Oh."

"I told my guys to leave you alone. I can't stop all the hassling, but the guys know that if they get rough with you, they answer to me. And there's a reason I'm top dog in these parts." He grinned.

Tori bristled slightly. "I don't... need protection."

Doug raised an eyebrow. "Sure you don't." He patted her on the shoulder. "Alphas are always out to push each other around, show who's best, but if we never looked out for each other it would just be a free-for-all all the time. You're just a little alpha now, until you figure out how to work things, so why not join my pack? I like to think of us as a team, watching each other's backs, keeping the peace, playing defense for our betas and omegas. You already did that when you helped out my cousin, so you've got the idea. You've got to be in the system before you can build real respect. That's how alphas work."

"Really?" Tori rubbed her head. "I never saw that before. My dad..."

"He doesn't have a tight group of old friends from high school that he goes to when he needs a hand?" Doug shook his head. "Once you get into the real world you start building respect in other ways. But down on the ground it's about loyalty and looking after your friends. And any alpha on his own is in trouble. You in, Tori?"

So this was what it was like to be an alpha. It hardly had anything to do with biology. It was a social structure, and Tori had managed to get herself invited in. "I'm totally in," she said.

"Awesome," said Doug. "Here's my phone number. Call if you need me."

"Thanks."

"And I'm sorry. Those omegas, they can be bitches, yo."

Tori flinched. "Yeah," she said, sliding her phone back into her pocket. "They kind of can."

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On Friday morning, Jade's father came downstairs with the injection kit. Jade sat on her bed, arms around her knees, rocking slightly. So this was it.

"Ready?"

Jade swallowed, and held out her arm. A cold swab of rubbing alcohol, the sting of the needle, he depressed the plunger, and it was done.

It was over.

He gave her shoulder a squeeze. "I'll be back at five. Be ready then."

Jade lay her head on her knees.

He left.

For a moment she let herself wonder what she would have said if he had paused in the doorway and asked if she was happy with this, was okay with the way things were happening. "No," she murmured to herself. "No. But in a couple of hours, I will be."

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The whispers and giggles when Tori walked into school on Friday were only to be expected, but a few nods from guys who were clearly Doug's alphas were enough to make her straighten and let them slide off her back. Even with Doug's backing, she almost hadn't come. It wasn't the bullying she was afraid of, it was facing her friends, and facing Jade. What did you say to someone after they did _that_?

What could she say?

The moment Cat saw her she raced to her and threw her arms around her. "Tori! You came _back_!"

Andre gave her a shoulder slap.

Robbie grinned at her in a half thrilled half terrified way. "So, you're an alpha. I guess I should have known when you punched through my locker."

Tori covered her face, feeling her cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

"Oh, I knew for ages," said Cat. "Jade told-" She broke off, making a weird face.

"It's cool, Tor," said Andre. "Like I said: Normal's boring."

"Thanks."

Tori cast a surreptitious glance over towards Jade's locker, but no one was there. She was a little glad - to not have to deal with her yet, but also slightly disappointed.

In Sikowitz's class, Jade didn't show. She wasn't in any of the classes they shared, and she didn't appear at lunch. Tori leaned on her elbows and frowned as Cat came up to sit next to her.

"Where's Jade?" she asked.

Cat dropped her tray. "Oh god, Tori! She told me not to tell you that you shouldn't go looking for her! She doesn't want you to get in trouble, and that was why she outed you, so you wouldn't look for her!" Cat paused. "I probably wasn't supposed to say any of that."

Tori gaped at her. _What?_ Jade had outed her to keep her away? She was trying to stop her from getting into trouble. "Wait? What do you mean? Why would she do that? Is something happening to her?"

Cat shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. She's just been sad lately. And I think she's in love with you."

It felt like the world had twisted upside down.

What was she supposed to _do?_

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The heat built slowly, steadily. It felt different from the regular ones, not as raw, but slightly more desperate, more _lonely_.

But she was alone.

Her mother knocked on the door a few times, asking if she was all right, but Jade just yelled back for her to go away.

She was a mess. Eyeliner smeared from crying, she ached and couldn't do anything to sate it. She hated this, hated the way the chemicals broke her iron control, slid in surreptitiously to play in her mind like feral children in a sandbox. She hated not being able to control her own mind.

She focused on that hate, drawing herself together around it.

If all she had left was her dignity, she would dig her fucking nails in.

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Tori considered the front door, but if Jade thought she might get in trouble coming after her, she should probably avoid meeting anyone she didn't trust. Tori snuck through the bushes instead and found her way to the small rectangular window that opened onto Jade's basement room. She peered through.

Jade was sitting on her bed, knees up to her chest, head pressed against one. She looked calm, not stressed or in danger, and Tori felt a little like an idiot, knocking on the window, but what else could she do? Jade shot a deadly look through the glass, but her eyeliner was running, she had been crying. Tori knocked again more fiercely.

Jade jerked open the window. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"You weren't at school. I wanted to see how you were."

Jade let her head fall back and rolled her eyes in disbelief. "Why did you _think_ I wasn't there?"

Tori swallowed. She could smell the heat in the room, its warm rich scent, and now something new - arousal, gathering on Jade's skin and between her legs. "Oh, god," Tori whimpered. "Sorry. I thought- It's not supposed to be for like another week or two?"

It was sweeter than usual. Not the deep rush to the loins, soft and sweet and pleasing. Tori licked her suddenly dry lips.

"No," Jade said flatly. "This one's artificially induced."

"What?" Tori fell through the window and crashed onto the floor.

Jade jerked back. "You can't be in here!"

Tori sat up, rubbing the back of her head. "I'm not an animal," she muttered. "I can control myself."

Jade's eyes went bright suddenly, as if with newly gathered tears. She shook her head. "Yeah, I know. You're _great_ at controlling yourself around me. I'm hardly interesting at all." She dropped back onto the bed. "But you're an alpha. If my dad smells you on me, he'll kill you."

_What_? Was she still pissed that Tori hadn't grabbed her the last time she was in heat? She was impossible. And none of this was making sense. Why would anyone induce an artificial heat? "I don't understand. What's going on?"

Jade flashed the inside of her arm, and Tori spotted the tiny red dot tucked into the crook of her elbow. "It's the mating drugs," Jade said. "My daddy's finally picked the alpha he's selling me to. And he gets a _lovely_ merger out of the deal, and I get a handsome alpha husband and to spend the rest of my life with out a care in the world," she waved her hand, her southern (Tori) accent coming out in the false pretense of ease.

"What?" Tori stared at her, not able to believe this. She was on _mating drugs_? She was _sixteen_. This was _medieval_. "He can't _sell_ you!"

"I've been sold already," Jade sighed. "I'm just waiting for delivery. This evening I'll be brought to him in one of the guest bedrooms upstairs, and he'll knot me and mate me and then we won't have to worry about this. I won't be interested in other alphas. I'll see you in school eventually. He promised I'd be able to finish high school, as a treat to me. And after that I get to start having his pups. Doesn't that sound _wonderful_?"

It sounded disgusting. "_Jade_. You can't just be planning to let this happen. You can't just let your dad sell you to him. You could call the police. This isn't legal anymore."

"It's _wrong_," Jade said, "It's still legal. Until I'm eighteen, he can do what he wants with me, and that includes mating me to his business partner, okay?"

"But can't we stop this? Can't I stop this?" She took a step toward her.

Jade backed up. "You don't want this. You're offering to knot me? Jesus."

Tori flushed. "I- I don't think this is fair. And I'm willing. It's not like it would be unpleasant."

Jade snorted. "You had better believe it wouldn't be. But it's a stupid idea. You'd knot me and mate me and my dad would find us and kill us. Being dead and bringing you down with me isn't the plan here." She sighed. "Look, I'm pissed now, but tonight I'm going to want him. It's going to be fine. He seems okay, and it doesn't really matter. He might be the biggest jerk on the planet, but I'll love his knot, and he'll have his teenage omega slut all over him." Jade crunched her hands into fists. "That's what I get for being an omega - I don't even get to control my own body, not even my own mind."

"This _has _to be illegal."

"You want me to go to the cops against my dad? My dad's one of the most powerful alphas in LA. It's not going to happen, okay? I'll just get through this, and then we can be friends, like you wanted. You always just wanted to be friends, right?"

Tori stared at her.

_I love you_. She had never wanted to think it, but it had always been there, and now it was all she could think.

Tori felt her own eyes filling bitterly with tears. Jade gave one suppressed, desperate sob, and Tori couldn't stop. She stepped in, wrapping her arms around Jade and drawing her in for a hug. Jade clung to her, and slowly they staggered backwards to sit on the bed. Tori's hand rubbed Jade's back in slow circles. Jade cried, soaking the shoulder of her shirt.

Tori considered pushing her down and taking her, not letting her protest, but she had said no, like she really didn't want it, and raping someone, even for their own good, was not something Tori could stoop to. Instead she just rubbed the inside of her wrist across the back of Jade's neck.

It felt... kind of amazing, and even Jade made a small sound that sounded more like moan than a sob.

Jade lifted her head, and looked at her, blue-green eyes clouded with tears. Then she leaned in and Tori met her in the middle. The kisses were light, soft presses of lips, no tongue, the occasional brush of teeth. It wasn't sweet. It wasn't passionate. It was just desperate and sad.

A knock came on the door. "Jadelyn," said a woman's voice. "It's time to get ready. He'll be here in an hour."

Jade choked and pushed Tori off. "Yes, mom. I'll be ready."

"You're going to do this?"

Jade looked up at her, lips twisted in resigned humor. "This is my life, Tori. And no matter how we fight, this is my destiny. I'm a breeder, and I've always been meant to be someone's bitch."

"But-"

"And don't say being yours is an improvement. Of things that will get me beaten up, being with you is number one on the list. He's not the worst option I have. And this way my dad will finally think I'm worth something."

_Even if it was just a bargaining chip._ Tori _hated _this. "You're worth more than anyone. You're..." The swell of feeling was almost overwhelming. "You deserve everything. I'd- I'd give you anything."

Jade smiled. "Get out of here before all the hormones go to your head. I've got to shower, or they'll know you've been here."

"No, Jade. I'm not leav-"

Jade stripped off her dress and stood in her underwear and bra. She glanced at Tori, eyeliner like owl feathers streaking her face. "Don't act like a stupid alpha, okay?" And then she walked into the bathroom and locked the door behind her.

Tori slumped back down on the bed. It hadn't worked. She hadn't fixed things. She wasn't even an option.

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Jade, as clean and scrubbed as she could be, dressed herself in a simple red silk slip and barely there underwear. She dried her hair, twisting it up on the back of her head, and pinned it. It would just be thoroughly messed up later. Her stomach ached and her body hurt, and yet she had to protect Tori. She couldn't let her father find her and hurt her. And he wouldn't even be punished. Flying into a violent rage when some strange alpha defiled your omega daughter was only natural, right? And if the alpha was a flimsy little girl, killing her on accident was no big deal.

Jade reached back and touched her neck. It was sensitive where Tori had been rubbing her wrist against it. It felt almost raw, the soap stinging against her skin. But any lingering trace of Tori on her would be their undoing. She would make it through this. Tori would be her friend, no matter what, and she would need all the friends she could get to survive the life that awaited her - her mother's life.

The manicure and pedicure were still perfect. She did her make-up, light, using waterproof mascara, not wanting to risk another set of raccoon eyes if she lost control and started to cry.

And then her mother knocked again, and Jade stepped out, prepared.

Her mother looked at her. For the first time, really, Jade could see her eyes. They were an odd blue-green, like her own. "You look beautiful."

Jade's chest swelled with fury. How dare she let him do this to her? How dare she say she was beautiful, when she was only attractive enough to be sold for money?

Then her mother gave a short sniff and looked surprised. "Are you-"

"Wildly in heat? Yes," Jade snapped back. She could probably smell the lingering scent of Tori that was still in her room.

"No. I just thought... It's been a long time. I don't really remember what a mating heat smells like."

So submissive. Always submissive. Just like Jade was supposed to be. She really wasn't sure if she could bear that.

They walked up the stairs and her mother led her to the grandest guest bedroom, everything new and clean and perfect, like a hotel. God, she was an expensive call girl and her father was her pimp. The bed had been made up with satin sheets. Jade grimaced and sat on the bedspread, wanting to bring her legs up, but sure that the slip was too short, and she would just expose everything. She sat still, hands pressed against the blanket, and waited.

The door opened. She heard her father's voice outside. "Everything should be ready for you."

"I'm very excited," said Gavin, a slight smile in his voice. He stepped inside.

Gavin paused for a moment, looking at Jade. "What a prize," he said softly. "Worth every penny."

He slipped off his jacket, and loosened his tie. After his tie, his trousers came off, and Jade could see the swell in his boxers, the knot beginning to bulge. And she felt nothing.

She was in heat. She knew that. The wetness coated her thighs. Her breasts ached, tender and sensitive. And yet she still felt nothing. His knot might have been a chair to her. She had no interest in putting it inside her.

Something must have shown on her face, because Gavin paused, and frowned, then sniffed the air.

"Hey," he said softly. "You..."

Jade gulped. This wasn't how this was supposed to go.

"You've taken the mating drugs, right?"

Jade nodded. Her mother's comment before suddenly struck her with import.

"And you don't... you don't already have a mate?"

"What?" Jade gaped at him. "No. I've never even been knotted."

"It's just- It's just you smell like you already have a mate."

Jade reached back once more and slowly let her fingers run over the sensitive place on the back of her neck. Female alphas. Oh fuck.


	11. Chapter 11

It's my birthday, so here's my present for all of you.

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Tori paced back and forth along the street. What was she going to do? She couldn't just let this happen. She _couldn't_, even if it was legal. And seriously? There was no way this could be legal. She called her dad.

"Her father's doing _what_?"

"It's not legal! It can't be legal, right?"

"Did she consent to it?"

_Did she?_ "I... _No!_ I mean, she seems resigned. But she doesn't want this, she _can't_!"

"Tori..." Her father's tone was _not_ reassuring. "It's Hadrian West. What judge is going to get me a warrant against Hadrian West?"

"A warrant? I need a swat team!"

"If he procured the drugs illegally, if she didn't consent-"

"She didn't consent! She _didn't_."

"I'll do what I can, Tori. I'll be there as soon as I can."

A car pulled up in the drive and two men got out. Tori's fingernails dug into her palms. As soon as he could might not be soon enough. She stared at the younger man, tall, handsome, well built shoulders.

Was that him? Was that the filthy alpha who was buying her?

The rage washed over her. Tori struggled for control. But she didn't have time to lose her head. She had to get this done. Had to protect her.

She punched another number into her phone. "Doug?"

"Ten minutes."

Ten minutes was too long. She had to go in alone.

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Gavin cocked his head to the side. He sauntered toward her and slid his hand up the bare skin of her arm to the place on the back of her neck that still felt raw. "Now, how did you manage to get mated in the time between your father dosing you this morning and now?"

He was close enough so that Jade could feel his swollen knot against her leg. She thought she might be sick. He shook his head, a lock of dark hair falling in his eye.

"You know, when I spotted you for the first time, I was sure you'd be trouble. I _like_ trouble. Omegas are boring, but I was sure you'd fight me the whole way, and then when the mating bond took hold, you'd fall limp and accepting. I'd hold back and you'd beg for it." He rubbed his thumb across her lower lip. "I want to hear you beg, darling."

_Fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck_. What was he going to do to her? All alphas were jerks, but Gavin was turning out to be as creepy as fuck.

"I suppose we'll just have to let your father get his hands on the drugs that break a mating and then try again." He leaned in and bumped their foreheads together. "I don't suppose you'd beg if I fucked you now." His smile quirked oddly in his face. "Someone else's mate. Your body wants _his_ knot, doesn't it? It wouldn't want mine. It might hurt. You might scream." He gently brushed a lock of hair out of her face. "I like hearing girls scream."

He pushed her down, climbing up to kneel straddling her. Jade couldn't breathe to scream, not with his foul, suffocating alpha musk. "I don't suppose your father would care if you got knotted before you were mated. And your poor little alpha husband hasn't even had a chance to get his paws on you properly, has he? Giving the first knot to a mated omega. That's like a dream." He grabbed her wrists, pinning her to the bed. "Now come on, fight me. You'll be able to fight the whole way through, even when I'm tied into you, breeding you."

The door clicked.

Jade tensed. Gavin glanced back. And then there was a crash and a whirr and a crack. Gavin half fell off of her, staggering when his feet hit the floor. Blood gushed from a cut on his forehead. And Tori was standing there, brandishing a metal lamp.

Jade shut her eyes. _Fuck_.

"You?" Gavin asked, his hand going to his eyebrow, wincing when it came away wet. "Who the hell are you?"

Tori was beyond speech, panting, foaming slightly, knuckles white on the lamp. Gavin's eyes flicked to the dilated pupils, the drool and slight streaks of foam.

"Hell," he said, his eyes alight. "A female alpha? Are you _serious_?"

He looked at Jade, pushing herself up to sit, and grinned. "This is like... cake."

"If you even try to touch her I will snip your knot off," Jade hissed. This was why she never left the house without scissors, and now here she was, scissorless. The lamp was an excellent plan though.

"How _sad_. An omega defending her mate." Gavin shook his head. "I know what I need." Carefully, keeping an eye on them both, he reached for his pants to unthread the belt from the loops. "Wish I had rope though. The lamp cord could do. I'll manage. I'll tie you up and make you watch."

Tori went for him with the lamp.

The belt whipped out at her and she ducked, swinging hard, knocking Gavin's knees out from under him.

The door burst open. Uniformed cops rushed in. One spotted Tori - the lamp wielding maniac, and started to go for her. Jade lunged at her, taking her down, and then crawled over her.

An alpha cop - familiar - was it Beck's friend Doug? - shouted at the other officer. "What the hell?" He gestured at Gavin. "Grab _him_. The girls aren't the problem!"

"Everybody calm down here!" another voice bellowed. This was an alpha not in uniform. Tori, under her, released a breath. "My dad," she whispered, and then looked up at Jade. Jade stared at her. Her eyes were less dilated, her breathing regular. She had hit Gavin with a _lamp_. _Oh, whatever_. She leaned in and captured her lips. Tori giggled giddily into it, her hands sliding up Jade's back, under the slip.

"What is going on here!"

Jade froze. _Her dad_. She struggled to sit up. Her father stood in the doorway, his face white with fury. She had never seen him so angry - not even when he beat her.

"This girl came in and belted me over the head and then the cops broke in like it was some sort of raid. What the hell is this?" Gavin shouted.

One of the uniform cops froze. "Mr. West."

Jade's father crossed his arms.

Jade scrambled off of Tori and got to her feet, smoothing down the slip to have it cover as much as it could, which, wasn't much. Tori looked up at her, wide eyed and obviously confused. She had probably blacked out a lot of the violence. This had gone totally out of control.

"I'm Detective David Vega," Tori's dad said, flashing his badge. "I had a report of illegally obtained mating drugs being used on an unconsenting minor. I have a warrant."

Jade's father's eyes went straight to her. He _looked_ at her, met her eyes, which he hadn't done for years, not since she went into heat for the first time. "Did you call him?"

"No sir," Jade responded. She knew better than that. Why would her father bother with doing anything illegally when he could manipulate all the legal channels just as easily?

"Then who, may I ask, offered such a lie?"

"I don't think you're the one who should be asking questions," snapped Doug.

"It isn't a lie, father," Jade said.

"It is within my rights to give you permission to mate."

"I didn't _ask_ permission!" Jade yelled.

"You didn't say no."

She hadn't said no. "Silence isn't consent," she said.

"It's not," agreed Tori. "There was a ruling on that pretty recently, wasn't there?"

"This is all bullshit!" Gavin yelped. "That girl came in here and assaulted me!"

Tori's eyes widened. Her father looked down at her. "I just... he was going to..."

"He was going to rape me," Jade said. "Tori hindered the process."

"You _agreed,"_ her father hissed. "You can't hold out your arm for the injection and then take it all back now."

Jade shrugged, her jaw set. "I agreed to take the drugs and go into a mating heat. I agreed to dress like a slut and come up here. I did not agree to cheating on my mate."

The room froze. Her father took a long sniff. So did David Vega.

"You've been mated," her father said, frowning. He looked over at Gavin, sniffed, and frowned again. "To whom?"

"To Tori." Jade pointed.

Tori, who was sitting leaning against the bed, went green. "What?"

"You didn't mention this on the phone," David chided his daughter.

"I-" Tori squeaked. "That can't be..."

"How do I smell?" asked Jade.

Tori stared at her for a moment. "Perfect," she said. "Like always."

The idiotic look of adoration made Jade smile involuntarially.

"What did you _do!"_ her father took a step toward her and raised his hand as if he was about to strike her.

"I never disobeyed you!" Jade yelled at him.

"Then how did _this_ happen?"

"It's not my fault that that nosy brat can't keep herself from falling through open windows and molesting me!"

"There was no molestation!" Tori yelped.

"And what do you call rubbing off on the back of my neck!"

Tori's face contorted in confusion and disgust. "What? It was just my wrist-"

"Be silent!" Jade's father roared. "How _dare_ you!" He took a step toward them, raising his fist, then hesitated, as if he wasn't sure who he wanted to go for first.

"Excuse me," David Vega said. He pressed Mr. West's arm down so that it was no longer ready to swing. "I think this changes things. As Jade here had already undergone mating then the assignation you set up with your work colleague counts as procuring. And procuring omegas has very high penalties."

Mr. West jerked out of his grip and cast him a disgusted glare. "You're right," he agreed. "This does change things." His eyes turned to Jade, flicked to Tori in disgust, and then moved back to Jade. "You are no longer my daughter."

Jade felt her face go slack.

"_Sir_," David protested sharply.

"I am an _alpha_, detective," Mr. West snapped. "And because of that, she is mine, and because she is mine, I can throw her away." He glared at Jade. "You chose your alpha. Fare well with her_."_

Jade sank onto the ground. Oh lord, what had she done?

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"I don't know what happened," Tori said, feeling miserable. She could see Jade through the glass partition. Someone had snagged her some sweatpants and a flannel shirt and she was curled up on the bench in the interrogation room, looking like she had been crushed, and Tori couldn't focus, couldn't think, when her mate was so sad. "I don't really remember it very well. I just remember Mrs. West opening the door, taking a sniff, and letting me in, and then I remember listening at the door, and he said something about wanting her to scream, and I I hit him with a lamp. I don't actually remember hitting him with a lamp. But he was bleeding and I had a lamp, so I figured there must have been, you know, cause and effect."

There was a brief pinprick for a blood test, to make _certain_ they were mated, but no one seemed to have any doubt, except Tori, who couldn't believe that she could be mated _and_ feel quite so miserable.

Well, she couldn't believe it until she stepped out into the hallway where Jade was waiting, and could smell her again.

"Tori! Are your hands all right?"

Tori looked up, her mom was coming toward her, scooping her up in a hug, and then looking at her hands. "They're fine, mom." She said. "I used a lamp."

Her mom raised an eyebrow and then looked over at Jade. She paused, as if seeing something that Tori couldn't, and then stepped toward her and got on her knees in front of the bench where Jade was sitting. "Are _you_ all right?"

Jade just looked at her, eyes hollow and confused. "Why do you care?"

Her mother smiled and ruffled Jade's already messy hair. "Because someone should. And because Tori's hopeless."

Jade smiled, huffing out a not-quite laugh, and it felt like the first time Tori had ever seen her smile like that, ever seen her smile at all. And she wanted, well, what she had always wanted. To hug Jade until she couldn't remember not touching her, and couldn't think of ever letting go. At the same time, she wanted her naked in her bed, like, _really badly_, but that wasn't exactly new - though a lot of the imagery was much more vivid. She sat on the thoughts. Police station. Inappropriate.

Her father ducked out of the office and came up, embracing her mother and giving her a brief kiss. "Don't worry. Neither of them are being charged with anything."

"Tori hit someone with a lamp."

"Under the circumstances, it was allowable. Can you take them home, feed them dinner, and put them to bed? - preferably not together, since the drugs are still affecting Jade's behavior, and it's better for her to make important decisions after they've worn off. I don't think I'll be done here until morning. Mr. West's called his lawyer."

"And I'll get the actual story out of the girls?" Holly inquired, half amused, half annoyed.

"And when I get home. Have to go. The prosecutor's reading Jade's statement and is getting a little angry."

He slithered out. Holly turned to the two girls. "Who wants dinner?"

Jade got into the front seat, and Tori slid into the back, feeling inexplicably lonely. Her body wanted to make small depressed noises.

"Tori! Stop whining!" her mother said.

Jade looked back at her, just looked, no expression on her face, and Tori just stared back, restrained by the seatbelt from falling forward between the front seats. Jade huffed out. "I'll hug you when we get home, you big hug-slut."

Tori's mother laughed. Tori... felt better.

On the front stoop, while her mother unlocked the door, Jade made good on her promise. Tori clung to her, burying her head into her shoulder, breathing in the scent - that had always smelled so good, and now was like cocaine. Jade's breathing quickened, roughened, and Tori felt her body rev up, electric desire hissing through her, making her let out a tiny sound that wasn't quite a gasp and wasn't exactly a moan.

"Hands where I can see them, girls!" Tori's mother announced. "And if you're going to make out on the sofa, there's a three feet on the floor rule, okay?"

Jade chuckled, and the vibration made _nothing_ calm down in Tori's chest. "Just put your knee between my legs, baby, and I'll get off."

That made all the blood rush right to the erogenous areas, and other things happen too, and Tori squeaked.

"Try not to take my little girl's virginity on the front porch, Jade," her mother called. "It seems exciting now, but you're going to be humiliated in front of the neighbors for the next ten years. Believe me. I know."

Tori jerked back. "_What_?"

Jade was really laughing now. She tangled her fingers with Tori's and pulled her into the house. "Seriously, Ms. Vega. You need to explain that one!"

Holly grinned. "That's for me to know, and you to find out. Now, Tori, you're cooking dinner."

"What?" Tori looked a bit stunned. "Why me?"

"It's your usual night to cook dinner. Do you think you're going to get out of it just because of the day you've had?"

"I-" Tori pouted. "Fine."

"Think of it as an opportunity to impress your girlfriend."

This did not make it better. Tori opened her mouth, "oh, not fair!" and she whirled and headed for the kitchen.

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Jade's eyes settled on Tori's mom. "You want to talk to me."

It was funny, how she wasn't angry. This was what always made her furious and jealous. Tori got the _good_ parents. Tori got to be an alpha. Tori got everything she even so much as thought she might want.

She even got Jade, even if she didn't actually want her.

Holly nodded. "I really don't know what happened today. As far as I can tell with my nose, you're in heat, and you've mated with my daughter. With my eyes, it looks like you've been having a really rough day."

"All true."

"Mating drugs?"

Jade nodded. "My dad injected me this morning."

"It should wear off by tomorrow then."

"I guess. I mean, it already worked, right? I'm mated, even if I haven't been knotted yet. Though that was a close thing. _Gavin_."

Holly caught her hand and squeezed it. "Your father threw you out?"

Jade sighed. "Understandably. I really fucked everything up. And then Tori hit the guy he wanted a merger with in the head with a lamp. If Doug and your husband hadn't burst in, he would probably have killed us."

"Has he hurt you before?"

Jade nodded.

Holly's hand rested between her shoulder blades, rubbing lightly. "I'm sorry."

"It wasn't like, frequent. I just always knew he could, if I disappointed him badly enough. I didn't think it would be worse to be kicked out, but it kind of is." Getting hurt was behavior modification, but she could fix it. She could please him. This... she was a lost cause. She hated that she still wanted his approval, even though he was a worthless son-of-a-bitch.

"You know you have a home here, whether you stay mated to Tori or not."

Jade stared at her. "Why? _Why do you care about me_? I'm not- I'm not any good."

"Jade, I don't have any omega daughters, and to some extent, I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful that neither of my daughters had to go through what I did. I'm glad they won't meet so many obstacles in doing what they want to do with their lives. But until they were twelve, we didn't know. So we were very careful to teach them to choose, and believe in themselves. That... may have backfired with Trina. And even though Tori turned out to be an alpha, she needed to be taught that too. You deserve to be allowed to choose what you want. And no one will blame you if that isn't Tori. _Tori_ won't blame you for that."

"Is that why you won't let me sleep with her tonight?" She felt a little bitter at that. She was in heat, and other alphas were suddenly invisible to her. Tori had kept casting her small glances and smiling, and it was enough to keep the desire sated and warm in her belly, but no contact at all? The thought made her sick. "I feel, almost human now, even though I'm in heat."

"And if you got knotted, you'd be able to control your heats even more. You'd feel great."

"Exactly." WHy shouldn't she want this? Why didn't she deserve this? After everything...

"And tell me what would happen if you slept with Tori tonight, and then, when the heat was gone, you decided that this mating thing was stupid, broke it and left."

Jade flinched. That _did_ sound like her. And she would be fine. But Tori was such a mess already. "I wouldn't... necessarily break it."

"You're sixteen. You may not want or be ready for a mate. But if Tori has her first time with you - the in heat omega she's just mated with, the one she's been obsessed with since she started at your school - and then you walk away, do you think she's going to let herself open up again? You'll break her. Wait. Think. Date, if you want. Make yourself feel comfortable about her feelings, and be sure about yours. And then you can have proper heat sex for the full three days. Mated or not."

Slightly shocked, Jade snorted. "Why are you okay with this?"

"I like you. And honestly, I'd rather she be with someone I think is responsible and trustworthy than with the beta boys she hangs out with."

"I'm not."

"Not what?"

"Responsible and trustworthy."

Holly stood and shrugged. "You haven't done anything irresponsible or anything to break my trust to me yet. Keep it up."

"I outed her to the _school_!"

"Why?"

Jade dropped her head. "So... _this_ wouldn't happen. So my dad wouldn't kill her."

"If you can do that, to protect her, you can keep your hands to yourself for one night."

Jade sank into the couch. She could, but that didn't mean she wanted to. Maybe if she promised to stay mated to Tori for ever and ever and always make her happy... She laughed to herself. Yeah, that was the mating heat talking.

Tomorrow, tomorrow she would have her mind back, mostly.

Tomorrow she could make a decision.

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Tori couldn't sleep. She rolled around in bed, knowing Jade was in her living room, on the couch, and found it unbearable. Finally, around three, she snuck down the stairs and went to her. Jade was sleeping, so Tori curled up on the floor, leaning against the couch next to her, and shut her eyes.

Listening to Jade breathe, sleep came quickly.

"What are you doing here?" Jade muttered.

Tori blinked. Jade's hand was on her shoulder, and she looked up. Sleepy and mussed, Jade was gorgeous. "I love you."

Jade smacked her. "Shut up." She grabbed Tori's arm and jerked her onto the couch. "Get up here." Tori curled around her, pulling her into her arms, and felt Jade let out a breath.

"God, I hate this," she muttered. "I hate how it feels so... so _fake_."

Tori's stomach twisted around. "It doesn't, really," she said. "I mean, I don't feel all that differently about you than I did before. I really don't."

Jade gave her an eyebrow. "You're being serious?"

"Well, I never went into a blackout rage before, but I did punch through Robbie's locker. And, you know... we are what we are. I can't split being an alpha from being Tori, and I can't split my feelings for you from my feelings for you."

Jade sighed. "You suck. Stop being reasonable. A week ago you were flipping out about being so _alpha _around me."

"It's worth it, for you." She leaned in and kissed Jade's cheek.

Jade struggled. "You don't have me! Not yet!" she snapped.

Tori sat up, wide eyed, scared. "I know - I don't own you. I'm never going to think I own you."

Jade's hands clenched into fists. "Look. If we do this, if we stay mated, you have to give me what I want. There are going to be rules."

"Okay." Tori felt hesitant. But she had to consider this. She had what she wanted, the question was whether it was worth keeping. She _knew_ it was worth keeping. "What are they?"

"You said the first one. You don't own me. You don't control me. I make decisions for myself, okay?"

"Of course."

"And if I do something stupid, or get into trouble, you don't interfere. I don't want you to protect me!"

Tori closed her eyes and took a breath. "I can't promise that. I don't want to. If you're in trouble, I will protect you."

Jade bared her teeth.

"But, I'd want the same thing from you. Is that okay? We protect each other."

Jade sank. "Fine. But no protecting me from myself. You can't protect me from making my own idiot choices."

Tori nodded. "I'll talk to you. I won't make you do anything."

Jade swallowed and slowly leaned into her chest. "You don't own me," she said softly.

Tori pulled her in. "One rule for me."

"Oh really?"

"I can hug you whenever."

"I get to measure the duration."

"Deal."

Finally the tension slipped out of Jade. She leaned back into Tori, pressing her head into the crook of her shoulder. "Okay," she said. "Okay. I kind of love you too."

FIN

This is the end of the story. I may follow it up with a few timestamps, especially if people request certain scenes. I already have a couple plans, but let me know!


	12. First Base

All right, all right! That was the end of the plot, but not the end of the story. However, the plot is done, so all the rest of these things are essentially timestamps.

**First Base**

Jade's father got away with it. Of course he did. He was Hadrian West. But Gavin went to prison for attempted rape of a mated omega. And Jade moved in with the Valentines.

"You and me," she told Tori, "we are separate people, okay? Remember that. I'm not going to just glom onto you like you're a fucking katamari."

Her mom had saved some of her stuff when her dad had decided to burn it. That was something at least. And to her annoyance, David Vega had become her responsible alpha, because there was apparently no way for her to _not_ have a responsible alpha. Fucking double standards.

Sometimes Jade hated the fact that she was mated. And no one really got it, that it was _worse_ than if she had ended up as Gavin's property, because she had had a choice, she had said, yeah, okay, I'll be your bitch.

But she hadn't wanted to say no.

It was her choice. Tori had made certain it was her choice, and who else was going to give that to her?

But really? Was that all there was that went into deciding? Gratitude? Escape? The possibility of training Tori to be the sort of alpha that she could deal with?

Jade hated the fact that she was mated, but she hated herself more.

School was utter shit. She had warned Tori, "I am not cuddly, I am not mushy, and if you hug me at school in public I'll bite, okay?"

Tori, who had suddenly decided to grow a backbone had responded, "oh please, you were always all over Beck."

"I was all over Beck because of _you_."

And, of course, Tori grinned like she had said something sweet, when it wasn't sweet at all. Tori had made her _crazy, _and angry and insane, and clearly now she belonged in a mental institution because she was _with_ her. And everyone knew.

People scented the mating bond and then the gossip flew around the school until everyone was gaping at them like they were animals in the fucking circus.

Jade was not having any of it. She had her largest, shiniest, sharpest pair of scissors out and she made Tori stay three feet away from her at all times.

But that just made the gossip worse. And some of it struck unpleasantly close to home. Cat, because she was genetically incapable of keeping her goddamn mouth shut, had made it obvious that Jade was staying with her family, and stupid rumors started going about about Jade using Tori to get out of a bad situation. The most detailed ones had her drugging herself and manipulating Tori fight for her like some weird gladiator. And it made her furious. She had done everything she could to _not_ get Tori involved, to keep her safe, keep her away.

It hadn't worked. Tori was really not that easy to manipulate.

But apparently mated pairs were supposed to be inseparable, with like, emotional telepathy or some shit, and just because they weren't joined at the fucking hip, Jade had to be taking advantage of her.

Jade had had _enough_.

Another alpha decided to accost Tori in the middle of the hallway. He cast a suspicious glance over at Jade, who was at her locker, and raised an eyebrow at Tori. "Hey, did you _really_ mate that bitch?"

"Don't call her that," Tori replied, in a tone that was mostly bored. "It's both dated and prejudiced."

"I didn't say it because she's an omega." He grinned, as if he thought he was clever. "It takes balls to risk your knot around that kind of... _girl_. But have you even got a knot?" He was way too close, as if he was going to check with his hands, and that was NOT okay. "Maybe she'd be less of a... _girl_, if you fucked her proper." His hand went to cup Tori's shoulder. "Need some hel-" his words ended in a squeak.

The tips of the scissors made a slight dent in his skin, and a tiny prick caused one drop of blood to well up.

"Step away," she said softly. "Step back and get the fuck out of here before I grind your knot into hamburger."

"O-okay." His eyes widened in panic, hands quivering. Awkwardly and off balance, he swiveled and fled.

Tori laughed softly. "You know I can handle this on my own," she said.

Of course she knew that. She probably had to do it three times a day, when Jade couldn't see her, because Jade was too freaked out about this situation to do _anything_ useful. But that was over now.

"You don't _get_ to anymore." Jade narrowed her eyes. "Not on your own."

Tori's stupid face was the problem. She couldn't help but look nice and unthreatening. And the other problem was, well, _her_.

Fine, she was pissed off most of the time. She had a right to be - getting kicked out of her house, having her stuff burned, having to live in close proximity to Cat's crazy brother. But she wasn't going to sit back and let the gossips wonder if they had faked the whole thing. "_How could they be mated and not even look at each other?"_

_"Fine!" _she snapped.

Tori looked confused. "Huh? Fine what?"

Jade ignored her and grabbed her hand, dragging her toward the asphalt cafe. She climbed up on one of the tables and pulled Tori up after her.

"Hello, everyone!"

"Jade!" Tori hissed at her. "What are you doing? I'm having really bad flashbacks right now!"

Jade rolled her eyes and ignored her. "As pretty much everyone knows, Tori Vega and I got mated a week or so ago." It was ten days, ten difficult, painful days, of dealing with cops and lawyers, sleeping on sofas, ending up in what was essentially a walk in closet at the Valentines'. All she had had that felt like home was the ability to lean into Tori's chest and breathe in her scent and let the idiotic chemicals in her brain do their best to calm her down. It worked, and Jade hated that it worked (but loved it at the same time).

"And you all probably have some questions about, say, why and how this happened?" Jade narrowed her eyes. "It's none of your business. 'Why' is between us, and 'how' you can find out on Wikipedia. There is just one thing you need to know. Tori is _my_ alpha. And that means _everything_ it's supposed to mean." Her hand slid around the back of Tori's neck.

Tori's lips quirked with amusement. "What are you trying to do?"

Jade rolled her eyes, leaned in, and kissed her. She nipped at her lower lip. Tori squeezed her ass and kissed back, firmly. _Kissed her like she wanted her, wanted her enough to take her, enough to never be sure that she owned her._

"Oh, and by the way," Jade added. "You douches who are obsessed with knotting - " She gave a slight flick of her eyebrows. "Let's just say, you _wish_ you had a knot like she does. It's like _double_ your best, and she can tie for fucking forty minutes."

Tori's jaw dropped. "Wait- what?"

The hoots and catcalls doubled in volume. Jade pursed her lips in amusement and dragged a reddening Tori off the table and to the janitor's closet.

"Oh my god! Why did you say that? They're going to-" She waved her hand, gesturing to essentially her entire body. Jade smiled and let her eyes run over it.

"So what? Now they'll stop asking."

"But they'll think I've got, like-" She made a face.

"You've got what I need. Okay?"

"Okay." Tori laughed, covering her face. "We haven't even..."

"None of their business. None of it is their business."

"Then why did you decide to tell _everyone_?"

Jade rolled her eyes. "Because I've had enough of them judging me for not wanting you enough."

Tori's eyes widened. "Jade - what-"

"They think I'm using you." She spat the words. "And maybe I am. But it isn't their business. I chose you. I chose this. They don't get to tell me that I should have chosen differently."

"But what does that have to do with telling them that I have," she wrinkled her nose, "a knot the size of a cantelope. Which I _don't_, in case you were wondering."

Jade snorted in amusement. "Well, I had to give them some reason why I had picked you above all of the other alphas, and it's not like they're going to believe that it's because..."

"Because what?" Tori reached out, cupping her chin and tipped it up, lifting Jade's gaze until it met her own. She was worried and curious, needy in a way that Jade doubted she could manage to sate. Jade sighed. "Because you make me look you in the eye. And you're the best thing I've ever had."

Tori gave her a half-puzzled grin. "The best thing?"

Jade sighed and stepped into her, initiating a hug, burying her face in Tori's shoulder. Tori's arms tightened around her in just the way she had wanted them to. "That doesn't mean you're all that high ranked. My life has been pretty shitty. And it's probably the mating hormones and the fact that you're an alpha who doesn't revolt me, but you make me feel like... like things can be okay, and I've never felt like that before, in my entire life."

Tori's hand cupped the back of her head, stroking her hair. "Really?"

"Not for a long time at least." Jade pulled back, shaking her head. "It doesn't mean anything. Feelings don't mean anything. They're just stupid chemicals fucking around in your brain. None of them are natural and none of them are real, they're just-"

Tori kissed her, cutting her off. "Just enjoy the illusion for a little while, okay?"

She kissed her again, and Jade sank into it, parting her lips when Tori's tongue darted out to test her. The goddamn chemicals flooded her system, lighting her fingertips on fire, purring in her chest like a happy lioness. Tori's scent surrounded her, seeping inside, drawing her out, toward her, and opening her up. Tori's kiss went rough and Jade's fingers wound into her hair, pulling tight. Tori hissed, then bit at her lower lip.

Fine. _Fine_.

It might all be an illusion, but it was one that was far too good to leave.


	13. Second Base

**There's something about me that means I desperately need my characters to argue all the time. Also. SO MANY ISSUES. And, mm, sorry about the cockblock. :)**

TV*JW TV*JW TV*JW

Being in an alpha pack was great... and yet it was also pretty awkward. They didn't really have boundaries. And Tori was cool with being an alpha, but she didn't want to be anywhere in the room when there was a knot measuring contest going on. One was just starting up, and she snuck out to lurk in the kitchen of Doug's house and miss the exhibitionism.

"You know some guys are just obsessed with knotting," said Pete, one of her new alpha buds. "But they don't get it. You get it, I'm sure. You couldn't not, with that girl you call your mate."

Tori (Tor, in the pack, or sometimes Vic, if the alphas were being particularly lighthearted. They disapproved of more than one syllable names.) forced a smile, her eyebrows slightly tweaked in confusion. "Uh, get what?"

"_Tits_."

Tori froze. "Uh, um. What about them?"

"That they're fucking amazing!" Pete seemed rather astonishingly thrilled by the concept.

"They are?"

Pete's jaw dropped. "You mean you don't- you haven't..." He gave a pitiful sigh. "Yours aren't quite enough to get the real experience, but your girl - now she's got a set on her, and you haven't felt it up?"

Tori knew she should probably have blushed herself out by now, but apparently there was no helping it. "We haven't... I mean, we're just getting to-."

Pete grinned. "You're in for a treat. Man, they're just so soft, and they feel so good. And if you play it right you can make her scream."

Tori swallowed. "I, uh, it sounds good." It sounded a little too good. Tori squeezed her thighs together and breathed through her nose. Damn it. Why did alphas have to talk about sex so much? Apparently there was an art to making omegas hot between heats, which Tori always paid attention to and wished she didn't. There was also an art to knotting betas that didn't make them cry and kick you out of bed forever. Tori tried to avoid instruction in that particular art, but she had managed to hear the basics enough time that she doubted she'd ever forget them. (1. Take it slow; 2. Fingers first; 3. Lots of lube; 4. Don't let them get bored!)

But it didn't matter what they were talking about, hanging out with alphas always meant talking about sex. And talking about sex meant thinking about Jade. And thinking about Jade meant trying not to double over at the tightness in her gut.

It also made her feel like a perv when they were together.

Because Jade really clearly wasn't having these problems, or if she was she was a _lot_ better at not showing it. And she was being all weirdly formal and old fashioned about things. At the first chance she got she moved into the Valentines', and then she wouldn't just come over and hang out. She expected _dates_.

Tori complained about this to her mother who just raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you just want to be friends? Or are you actually making an effort here?"

Tori tried not to jump up and down in annoyance. What was the difference between having a friend that you really, really wanted to make out with all the time and being in a relationship? No one had satisfactorily explained this to her, and when her dad tried it seemed pretty obvious that it boiled down to someone being the dude and paying for things. Since Jade didn't have any money anymore, of _course_ Tori was going to pay for things, but whenever she did it was obvious that Jade hated it, and whenever she acted like the dude, Jade hated it. Essentially, dating just wasn't working out.

But it _had_ to work out.

And then Tori figured out that she was being stupid. She got a hundred dollars from her mother - who grinned widely in approval when she heard the idea - and stuffed it in an envelope. On the front she wrote, "Take your girl out, on me, okay? She expects flowers and for you to look super hot." Then she stuffed the envelope into Jade's locker.

"What the hell is this, Vega!" Jade smacked her in the face with the envelope.

"It's your turn!" Tori snapped back. "You're sick of being the omega all the time, and I'm sick of it too! I like being an alpha but it would be nice if someone noticed I was a girl also!"

Jade looked shocked, and Tori took the opportunity for a diva storm out. During Sikowitz's class she got the text she had been waiting for. || **Friday at 7?** || Tori grinned and glanced over at Jade, slouched in her chair in the back of the room, and gave her a happy thumbs up.

|| **Dork. **|| But she also got a slight flick of her kitty-cat smile.

Trina tried to advise her on what to wear and Tori very carefully rejected everything she approved of. She ended up in a short black dress, because Jade liked black, and because Trina wrinkled her nose at it like it repelled her utterly.

She wasn't quite finished dressing when the doorbell rang and she nearly fell down the steps, trying to get her second shoe on as she went.

Jade stood outside, looking bored and checking her watch... in a fedora, a vest over an open white shirt and pinstriped trousers... and she shoved a purple dahlia in her general direction. "You ready yet?"

Tori just gaped, unable to find words. "You..."

Jade made a snapping motion with her hand. "Speak."

Tori laughed, taking the flower. "You're the _worst _boyfriend ever. Be less of a jerk."

Jade raised an eyebrow. "Too much of a jerk for you to date?"

Tori shrugged. "You're hot enough to make up for it."

Jade let her eyes drag all the way up Tori's body from foot to head. "You'll do, Legs."

Tori shoved her arm goodnaturedly and then hooked their elbows together. "Jerkoff."

Jade gave her an eyebrow raise and half a grin that was almost like a 'thank you.'

Tori felt a little bit like one of those girls who would protest and protest that their boyfriend was the sweetest guy around even when everyone else knew he was a jerk and told her that she could do better. But she couldn't help being stupid and giddy about the whole thing. It was Jade, looking amazing, and looking at _her_, like she knew that Tori was hers and was glad of it. She didn't expect Jade to say nice things, but she did nice things, like getting the door for her and pulling out her chair, though she did it all with a lackadaisical disinterest, as if it was obvious something she should do. Tori watched her critically. It didn't feel quite like she was playing a role, or, if she was, she was taking it very seriously.

"Do you like this?"

Jade raised an eyebrow. "It's better that time you tried to take me to get pizza."

"I like pizza!" Tori protested.

Jade gave her a look, then waved down the waiter. "I'm ordering for you."

"Seriously?"

Apparently she was serious. Tori wasn't sure what she was supposed to feel about that. It was kind of offensive, and it was kind of nice - a little risky, since Tori didn't know half the words that Jade was using to order - but exciting too.

Jade's eyes flicked to her when the waiter went. "You look... fine with this."

Tori rested her chin on her hand. "I am. I like trying new things. I trust you."

"You _trust_ me? I gave you garbage coffee."

It had been pretty good coffee. "I guess... I'd drink garbage coffee again. If you gave it to me."

The look that crossed Jade's face was unreadable. "I guess," she said slowly, "that I don't trust you."

That hurt. Tori looked away. Why was this so hard?

"But tonight you've made it so I don't have to. You gave it up - gave up the control. And maybe that makes me trust you a little more."

Tori cocked her head and offered a slight smile. That wasn't what she had expected from this, but it sounded like a good result. She wasn't sure what she _had_ expected, but Jade in a fedora saying she maybe trusted her a little was a start.

It was more than she had gotten on all the other dates.

"Look," Jade said. "I'm not good with blind trust. I like boundaries. If I don't have boundaries, I push until something pops up. So I will do more and more outrageous things to find out where they are. You didn't mind me ordering for you - and I would have pitched a fit. So what would make you angry? If you tell me the boundary, I don't have to go looking for it. Because I know looking for it will piss you off."

Now that was useful information. Tori chewed on her lip, considering it. "I'm not really sure. I mean, I wouldn't like it to become a habit - you picking things for me, or making me do only what you want me to do."

"I hate it when you sit like that. Don't slouch over the table. Sit up straight."

Tori flinched back. "That! Don't do that! You aren't my parent."

Jade grinned. "Well, there's one boundary."

Tori breathed out again. Okay, yeah. It was better to state the boundaries right out or she was going to cut someone on accident. "I don't- I don't like it when you disapprove of me, like I'm not good enough. If you really don't like something, I want you to tell me. And I don't care if you don't like my clothes or my dancing - I mean, I _care_ but I have enough confidence in some things to go with what I like. I don't need to please you all the time."

"I hated your bird scene."

"I thought it was awesome."

Jade laughed a little, nodding. "You trained a bird. It was hilarious."

"You have no idea how much work that took!"

And suddenly Jade's expression changed again. "It took the right amount of work," she said. "You took the assignment seriously, if not... originally."

Tori swallowed. This was way too intense a conversation, but conversations with Jade were always intense. Intense and... intimate, in a weird way. "I like the way you throw yourself into the assignments. Even if they're the most stupid things, you're deadly serious, and never... self conscious."

Jade watched her, frowning slightly. "How serious are you about this life?"

"What?" Tori frowned. What life?

"About performing. Are you really serious about wanting to make a living in the arts? You're not going to like, decide to be a doctor or something idiotic like that, right?"

"What? I..." Tori hadn't really thought about this. "I don't know. I mean, I like it. I really like it." It gave her a high that probably should be illegal. "I'd like to do it if I can."

"I'm going to drag you down. You're not going to be a popstar as a female alpha with an omega mate."

"Says who?" Tori shot back. "I can do whatever I want to do."

"You really believe that? You're deluded, Vega."

"I can _try_." Tori took a breath. She was probably right. "It doesn't matter. I don't need to make it big to be happy."

"Of _course_ it matters!" Jade's voice was harsh and rough. "You don't think I would do whatever I could to succeed if I had the opportunity?"

"You _do_ have the opportunity," Tori said. This wasn't about her at all, was it? "And do whatever you could? What does that mean?"

Jade froze. Then she narrowed her eyes. "You wondering if it means casting couch? Would it piss you off?"

"I might kill someone." Tori said, then looked down at her cute dress and was like _seriously?_

Jade leaned back and laughed. "Maybe I'd like to see that."

"Uh, no, you wouldn't. Dad said that if I had hit Gavin anywhere else with the lamp or any harder I might have cracked his skull. There could have been _brains_ everywhere."

Jade pressed her lips together. "I wouldn't have minded."

She remembered more of what had happened. She would probably know best. Tori nodded. "But if you chose it, I'd feel bad about killing the guy."

Jade looked down. "I wouldn't do that. I couldn't stand it."

"You know," Tori said slowly. "Me killing someone - that shouldn't matter." Jade's gaze came up and her brow furrowed. "I don't want to be policing your behavior. I shouldn't be able to. Me killing someone has nothing to do with you. I need to control myself and your actions aren't relevant to that."

"What do you mean?"

"I have to decide what to do. If you sleep with someone to get ahead and I kill him, I've fucked up because I let my crazy get the better of me."

"And I fucked up because I put my career ahead of you?"

"No," Tori said. "You never promised me anything like that. We're mated, not married. You never promised me anything."

"Except hugs."

Tori nodded. "Except hugs."

"You're nuts," Jade said. "So I could cheat on you because I never promised not to, and you couldn't be pissed?"

"I'd be hurt. I wouldn't be pissed. I don't have the right."

"Why the hell not!"

"Because I don't own you! That's what I'm trying to show you here! I'm not just letting you off your leash for a romp in the park. You need to figure out what you want from me, because I only want two things from you. I want you to care about me, and I want you to be happy with me. That's _all_. Those are the only dealbreakers."

"The only dealbreakers? Are you serious? Gavin and I had a three page contract that detailed exactly what my obligations and rights were."

Tori swallowed. _A contract_?

"I was allowed to finish high school. I was allowed to go to college, if it was nearby and if I studied something _reasonable_. I was obligated to bear him either a male alpha heir or five children. I was obligated to-"

"I'm _not_ Gavin!" Jade shut up, but her eyes flared with anger. "I'm not going to take control of your life! I don't_ want_ to take control of your life! I want you to do what you want to do, do what you love, do what makes you happy. If staying mated to me makes you happy then I want to, but if it doesn't, then don't. I don't want to be the one to ruin your life!"

Jade was silent for a long moment. "Ruin it? You _gave_ me one." She sighed. "That can't be all you want from me. You can't... You deserve more. I owe you-"

"Nuh-uh! You owe me honesty, okay?"

"Honesty?" Jade stared at her, and sank back into her chair. "Honestly, I will drag you down. I will make your life harder. I can keep you from getting what you want."

"I want to be happy. That doesn't mean impressing the whole world. I don't have to be a star."

"I thought I did." Jade stared at the table. "If I had a big break, I thought maybe my dad would think I'm special - not just a cheap-ass bargaining chip. I could bring in the cash and he would love me as much as he loved money."

"You're worth more than money."

"Don't be a _sap_, Vega."

Tori grinned. "Sorry."

Jade glanced up at her, and then her eyes darkened. "Honesty, you said?" She shrugged lightly. "You look really hot in that dress."

"Oh!" Tori felt her cheeks heat up. "Um, thanks."

"Have you considered investing in a push up bra?"

Tori covered her face and laughed. "You're the worst!"

"What? I like to look at you. And I can't say I'm not pleased when you get stares from beta guys that you will never want as much as you want me. I'm good with handfuls, but if you look less like a beanpole they'll be even more jealous of me."

"You like that?"

Jade shrugged. "People get weirded out that you're an alpha, but you're a girl, too. I like that. Maybe if you make it more obvious, I'll freak out less over you being an alpha."

"So, a push up bra would help with your psychological issues?"

Jade smirked. "Better than pills."

The waiter put a plate down in front of them. "Your ceviche."

Tori looked at the bowl and wrinkled her nose. "What on earth is ceviche?"

"Raw seafood," Jade said blandly.

Tori narrowed her eyes. "This isn't garbage coffee, is it?"

Jade picked up a miniature fork. "No," she said, and took a bite, giving a waggle of her eyebrows as if to say, 'do you dare?'

Tori dared.

About halfway through the third rather peculiar course a funny looking beta man came in, waving over at a table of other diners.

Jade froze, looking astonished. "Fuck. Is that Tony Kushner?"

"Who?"

Jade narrowed her eyes. "Seriously? You don't know who Tony Kushner is?"

"No," Tori tried not to feel entirely humiliated.

"He's a playwrite. Jeez. What do you _do_ with your life?"

"I'm not-" Tori bit off her words. "Look. I'm not a drama geek. I didn't obsess about being in the movies or on broadway or whatever since I was two. That was Trina, and I really, really tried to not pay attention when she spoke."

Jade cocked her head. "That's reasonable."

"What?" That was not the response Tori had expected.

"But if you _are_ serious about performance, you should know Tony Kushner. He does some really interesting things. He even wrote the book for a musical that made me want to try it."

"You... want to write a musical?"

Jade tensed. "Is that-"

Was she asking if it was _okay_? Gavin and her dad were _not_ allowed to haunt this relationship. She would be supportive 'til it killed her. "That sounds really cool, but - a musical? Like, a horror musical?"

Jade rolled her eyes, but she relaxed, settling into the comfortably dismissive posture that Tori had decided to think of as male beta Jade. "More of a psychological thriller. I'm thinking of making Andre work with me on it."

"I'll audition!"

Jade gave her a long considering look. "Learn to cry on cue and we can talk."

"Um, sure."

Jade pulled a notebook out of her pocket and flipped it open. She wrote a name down on the first line. "Okay," she said. "Let's see what other gaps in your performance education we need to fill in."

"You're making a _list_?"

Jade cocked her head and almost smiled. "You're a long term project."

"I'm a _project_?"

"You work on me and I'll work on you." She tugged the brim of her fedora and smirked.

Did that count as working on her? She looked happy - and when she paid for dinner she looked even happier. So maybe it did.

Jade pulled up outside Tori's house and walked her to her door. Tori ducked her head and tucked some hair behind her ear. "This was fun."

"You admitting that I'm a better date than you are?"

"You took it really seriously! Next time it's my turn, and I'm going to be the best date."

"What? You weren't taking me seriously before?" Jade's eyes glinted, and Tori felt a slice of excitement cut through her belly.

"Maybe I thought it would be easy."

"You thought _I_ would be easy."

Tori laughed. _No, never that. _ "I've never done this before."

"What? Make an ass of yourself pursuing a girl without figuring out that you want to bang her, accidentally mate her, and then pull some stupid hero hijinks to save the fucking day?"

Tori winced. Well, she had never done that before either. "I mean date anyone, try to have a relationship. Movies make it seem easy."

"You need to watch better movies." Jade flipped open her list and added another name to it. "And most things are a lot more difficult than they seem in the movies. Consider jumping from the roof of a moving car onto a train. In the movies, easy. Don't try it at home."

"Well, when you put it like that..."

Jade stepped closer to her, putting a hand possessively on her hip. Tori's mouth shut. "I've never done it either."

She leaned in and kissed her. Tori sighed into it. Her alpha purred. Somehow it felt just as good to have Jade be the one pressing her against the door and cupping her jaw firmly to turn her head as did the reverse. Maybe belonging to someone was a lot more of a symmetric relationship than most people assumed.

TV*JW TV*JW TV*JW

On Saturday Jade showed up at 10 am with a stack of DVDs.

"Hey, cancel your plans. You're getting educated."

Tori couldn't help but grin.

They sprawled out lazily on Tori's bed and Jade gave her a short lecture on Cary Grant and the New Alpha before sticking in the first film and curling up against her. Tori loved the way Jade smelled, and the soft curve of her hip under her hand, and even the elbow to her ribs whenever Jade thought she wasn't paying attention.

After a while she stopped getting the elbows, but she stopped noticing, because the dynamic in the movie had pulled her in. A spoilt and bitchy omega struggling for independence, for control, that ended in submission to a dominant, casually cruel, sexually powerful alpha. Jade's body was tense under hers, but not in the way she expected. It hummed slightly, rough pants high in her chest, and Tori noticed that her hand had kept sliding over Jade's hip, down her leg and back up, throughout the film.

"Do you_ like_ this movie?" Tori asked softly.

Jade rolled over to look at her. Her eyes were slightly dilated, lips red, cheeks pinked. "Not... intellectually. But, it's-" She hesitated, and Tori leaned in to capture her lips. Jade fell back, arching slightly, pressing her hips up.

"It turns you on?" Tori inquired. It was a two hour movie. That was some effort there.

"Not _usually."_ Jade grinned.

"Do you... want it?"

"Want _what_?" An inquisitive eyebrow suggested an available option.

"Want to be topped?" Tori winced. "Because you hate being controlled."

Jade stared at her, blue-green eyes wide and shocked. "Yeah," she said. "I hate it, in real life. But in bed... I could go for that. Sometimes."

"Oh." Tori felt herself stiffen. She wasn't sure whether the thought was more exciting or more terrifying. "I don't know if I can do that."

Jade leaned into her shoulder, biting down lightly. "You're an alpha. Do what comes naturally."

Did any of this really come naturally? Kissing her did. Kissing her was like jumping off a cliff - the run up, the terror, and then finding out you could fly and you never wanted to land. The skin of her neck was smooth and warm and Jade made little submissive whimpering sounds when she kissed and licked at it. Tori found herself on top, Jade warm and firm under her... and soft.

Tori shifted backwards until she was sitting, and pulled Jade up, propping her against a stack of pillows when she seemed disinclined to stay upright.

"What?" Jade mumbled. "That was going fine."

"Yeah." Tori leaned in and licked the hollow of her throat, not letting her eyes drop, but spotting the reddening mark she had left high up under Jade's jaw. It was a kind of possession, a vivid splash of it. And Tori felt a rush of arousal following. _Oh, that was what she meant by coming naturally._ Wanting to pin Jade's wrists against the wall, bite and suck to leave more marks, hold down her hips and hear her beg.

She _so_ wasn't ready for any of that.

But... Tori's eyes flicked down. Maybe she was ready for one thing. She leaned in for one more kiss - open mouths - wet - tongue.

"God," Jade leaned her head back, gripping the bedspread until her knuckles went white. "I'm not going into heat for another week. You shouldn't be able to make me this hot."

Tori breathed, her chest tight, shutting her eyes to try to regain control. "Can I..."

Jade's eyes were dark and heavily lidded. The corners of her lips quirked up. "Do what you want to me."

Tori leaned in and pressed her lips against her neck. Tentatively, hesitantly, she let her hand slide up to cup Jade's left breast. It was so... soft, like just risen dough, and heavy, far more so than her own. Her thumb brushed over Jade's nipple, and she hissed.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Tori jerked her hand back.

Jade glared at her, furiously. "Don't you dare stop. Take my shirt off and do it again!"

Tori's mom could walk in at any moment, and if she even passed by she probably would. Anyone within smelling distance of the room would know what was going on in here. But the chance to see Jade topless, and to do more than just see...

Tori's gut clenched. Oh no, it wasn't just for the bragging rights.

"Oh yes please," she squeaked.

Jade snorted in amusement.

Hurriedly she wrestled a laughing Jade out of her shirt, and then fumbled helplessly with her bra. It wasn't fair. She was supposed to be able to manage that part! But getting a bra off of someone else and getting one off yourself were not quite equivalent. But then she got it and it popped open, dropping down, Jade's breasts tumbling free. Jade shrugged it off, and leaned back, smirking, confident.

A tight hot throb between her legs made Tori flinch. She reached out, cupping the smooth curve of skin, rubbing her thumb over the puckered areola. Jade gave a strained little gasp, arching her back, just slightly - enough to press her breast harder into Tori's hand.

The rush of heat and power made her light headed. Tori licked the pad of her thumb and brushed it across Jade's nipple. Jade's hips jerked.

"_Fuck_, Tori."

Tori pinched the nipple between her thumb and forefinger and rolled. She leaned in and caught the other with her lips, licking and sucking, moving her weight to press down on Jade's writhing hips.

"Tori, god, Tori - I need you. I need you _in me_." She bit. "Fuck!"

"OH MY GOOOOOOOD!" Trina's shrill tones broke through the fevered heat. Tori pulled back and looked over. Trina slapped her hands over her eyes. "I've been scarred for life!"

"Trina, what?"

"I've seen my little sister's knot!"

Tori and Jade exchanged a puzzled glance.

"These are my tits," Jade said flatly. "I know they might look a little impressive compared to the ones you've seen, but no knots are out right now."

Trina took her hands away from her eyes. "I _know_ what tits look like," she said. She eyed up Jade a little more than Tori was comfortable with. "And mine are bigger."

"Trina!" Tori yelped. This was too much. She scrambled up and hustled Trina to the door. "Get out! And stop ogling my girlfriend's breasts."

"It's _your_ fault for taking them out during daylight hours! Put a sock on the door handle, damn it!" Trina flounced down the hall.

Tori shut the door and leaned back against it. "So, that killed the mood, I guess."

Jade snorted. "If Trina walked into an orgy it would wilt."

Tori sagged. Jade's breasts were still right there. She hadn't wilted _completely._

Jade rolled her eyes. "Get over here and we can snuggle. You can even feel me up, if you're that desperate. I'm putting on the next movie."

Tori pouted. "I'm not _that_ desperate."

Jade raised an eyebrow, then started reaching for her shirt.

"Nonononono!" Tori leaped across the room and looped her arms around her, pulling her into her chest.

"God, you're a dork!" But Jade turned toward her, grinning, and kissed her lightly on the cheek. She reached out and hit the spacebar on the laptop and then lay back, letting Tori curl around her. "Now this is a really good one, and there's going to be a quiz afterwards, so don't get too distracted or I'm putting them away."

Tori nuzzled into Jade's hair and let her hands side up until she held what she wanted to. "I'll have you know that I am an _excellent_ student."

And _Suspicion_ was an excellent movie, though ever after, Tori could not discuss it in public without turning the color of a tomato. And when she saw Pete the next afternoon she totally got a high five.


	14. Third Base

**I dunno. This is a bit of a mess. But, thank you Amtrak - and girl who was sitting next to me on the train, if you looked over my shoulder I'm Sorry.**

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After the date, Tori had started to wear more skirts - not to school, or for hanging out with the alphas, but at other times. It was impossibly tempting. Jade had always been so good at not looking, not touching, not caring in public. She wasn't one of those omegas who had no independent existence outside of her alpha. But ever since that date where Tori had essentially slapped her in the face with the fact that she was a _girl_ and wanted to be treated as one - on occasion - Jade felt like things had opened up. The place inside of her which was nothing but struggle and hatred, fighting against herself, against her submission, against the desperation that drew her to _alphas_ - now only to this one specific alpha, the one who now was the target of all the hate and desperation and fear - that place could still. She could rest.

She had another option. She didn't have to be the omega all the time. She didn't have to cling or submit. She could possess. Not that she wanted Tori hanging off of her either. That happened often enough as it was and it was suffocating. But when she wore skirts, Jade let herself look.

She was subtle about it. She looked without turning her head, but she let her eyes linger on legs and hips, and the slight curve of her ass. She could tell Tori noticed, and was pleased by it. And Jade thought she might be okay with that.

On those days she stayed nearby, always slightly to the rear, and close - close enough to step between Tori and anyone else who might be sidling a little too far into her personal space. And occasionally, when they were forced into tight proximity, she would rest her hand on the small of her back, or a little lower. Though what she really wanted to do was cup the bare skin of her leg and slide _up_.

As her heat grew nearer and nearer it took more and more effort to not scoot her desk right next to Tori's and do it during class.

But she was being good. She would be good until Friday night. Or, well, that had been the plan.

Somehow, Jade had managed to get wrangled in to going to the movies with the whole crowd on Friday. She had been _planning_ on going on a date - but _no_. Cat wanted to see the new Bond, which looked to be absolutely terrible, and Andre and Robbie and Beck were all enthused. Worse. Tori was enthused. Jade got pissed, and shouted at her when she said she wanted to go. But then Cat had tugged on her arm and pouted, saying, "Mom will only let me go if you drive us." And so, Jade was forced into playing chauffeur.

As Jade drove down Tori's street, Cat bopping along to a song beside her, she spotted her alpha waiting on the sidewalk, and her knuckles on the steering wheel went white.

Tori had worn a skirt - a short skirt. And there was only skin underneath. No nylons, no fishnets, just showing off her Californian tan to the sky. It was clearly to get back at her for the shouting. (How did Tori manage to figure it out, damn it? She knew just what had caused the outburst and how to make it six times worse!)

The three goddamn beta boys were going to be a pain about this.

Jade pulled up right in front of the curb where Tori was waiting and leaned out her rolled-down window. "Looking for business?" she inquired. "I've got twenty bucks."

Tori rolled her eyes. "Don't be a gank," and then she leaned down and kissed her.

Cat shrieked in excitement.

Jade smiled. Tori wasn't going to make her pay for her outburst. This movie just might be worthwhile.

However, Jade totally hadn't overreacted. The skirt was actually that short. All three boys did a double-take, though Beck was the most subtle about it. He grinned at Jade though and gave her a subtle thumbs up. Jade just glared. She hadn't forgiven him for going after Tori, even though finding out she was an alpha and then the whole mess ending with them mating and being a couple was probably enough punishment. Andre catcalled. Robbie turned purple, and Jade grabbed Rex and threw him over the wall into the dumpsters before he could comment.

"Hey!"

"You can fish him out after the movie!"

Then she grabbed Tori's hand. Tori looked at her, rather surprised. Jade pulled the twenty out of her pocket. "Here," she said. "You're bought for tonight. No moonlighting."

"_Jade_."

Jade quirked an eyebrow in response.

In the theatre she scanned the audience. It was an early showing, not too crowded. There were a few open rows near the back. The group went for the first one, but Jade dragged Tori to the last one.

"What? We're not sitting with everyone?"

"You can talk to them about it afterwards. I want you to myself now."

"Okay." Tori offered her dumb 'you're being nice to me' grin again.

Jade shook her head and forced her to sit. "Tell me when you're sick of it."

"When I'm sick of it?"

"I've been _training_ you. This movie is shit. You should be able to tell. Let me know when you've had enough."

Tori looked surprised, but intrigued. Then she settled in to watch the movie, and Jade watched her.

It hurt a little, to watch her. Because here, breathing her in in a dark theatre mostly on their own, she couldn't focus on all of the shit that had happened. She couldn't make herself hate it. She couldn't even make herself hate herself. She was the one who had failed to fix things, impress her father, fight back, figure out that Gavin was the _worst_. But it didn't matter now. Tori had done nothing wrong. Tori had saved her from her own failures. And now she was here, and she almost felt like it was okay.

She couldn't hate Tori for saving her. Not anymore.

It still wasn't fair. Tori was cute and nice and considerate and everything that Jade didn't deserve and shouldn't get. But if it was on offer, Jade was going to take it. She would take _her_. And if she wouldn't specify anything she wanted in return, Jade would have to figure out what she could give.

Jade leaned over until their shoulders brushed. Tori gave her a surprised glance, but didn't move away. She looked back up at the screen, watching the endless previews involving fast cars, explosions, hard-bodied alphas, half-dressed female betas, and omegas in danger - there was possibly a pit of snakes involved in one. Jade let her hand slide down and twist into Tori's. Tori squeezed her hand. It was kind of humiliating exactly how comforting that was. But comfort hadn't been the intent. These idiot movies could be absorbing, even though they were bad. She had to remind her that there was something more interesting on offer.

When the first super-shiny bond car came on the screen, Jade started rubbing her thumb up and down over Tori's hand. A slight tension ran through her, but then she relaxed, leaning into her, her scent warming. At the first explosion, Jade rested her head on Tori's shoulder. At the third explosion, Tori yawned and started rubbing her hand back.

"You're right," she whispered. "This is pretty bad."

"Good girl."

Tori grinned, shaking her head slightly. Jade moved in to kiss her. Tori kissed back and sighed when Jade sucked lightly on her lower lip.

"I really don't look like a hooker in this skirt, do I?"

If that wasn't an invitation, what was? Jade put her hand on Tori's thigh, smooth warm bare skin. Her thumb played with the hem of the skirt. "If I was your alpha and I thought you wore it for anyone but me, I would be seriously pissed."

"Only if you were an alpha? I thought Beck would really like it."

Jade sunk her nails into Tori's leg. Tori squeaked and batted her away. "You know I wore it for you!"

Jade leaned in and pressed a harsh kiss against her mouth. "Yeah. I know."

"Shhh!" someone hissed.

Jade whirled and readied to savage them. But hands caught her wrists and Tori pulled her back toward her.

"Leave them alone," Tori whispered. "I want you to pay attention to me."

Jade shook her head, looking up through her lashes with a slight wry grin. "I can totally do that."

The next kiss lingered, sweet and slow and lazy. Jade cupped Tori's hip, with one hand, the fingertips tracing up her side, over her ribs. Tori twitched and giggled into her mouth. Then Jade's hand was at her breast and pressed into it. Tori squeaked and her nipple hardened, tight against her palm.

"Bite your tongue," Jade murmured into her ear. "Or they'll throw us out."

Tori dug her teeth into her lower lip and nodded hurriedly.

Jade tugged up her shirt and let her hand curl around soft hot skin. She pressed her lips against Tori's throat, She could feel her larynx jerk as she strained not to make a sound. Soft whimpers echoed in her throat. Jade nipped and sucked and licked, testing her control. The heat was rising in her. Two days - three at most, and she wanted Tori like she would want water in the desert. Two - three days, and she would beg to be fucked. But right now she still had some control. Tori was panting under her. Jade let her hand slip between her legs, letting her fingers caress her inner thigh.

Tori stiffened. "What are you-"

Jade kissed her to shut her up. She didn't move her hand forward, just petted. Teasing, soft and easy. She was sure that Tori would freak if she pushed it too fast. But the warmth between her legs was getting hot, and she was kissing back - if only tentatively. Jade broke the kiss. Tori looked at her, eyes wide and brown and limpid.

"Thoughts?" Jade murmured, raising an eyebrow to emphasize the need for a response. The movie was too loud to be heard over at the moment, helicopters and rock music, but communication was occurring.

Slowly, Tori took a breath, and nodded.

"Good girl." The scent of arousal that those words released made Jade grin like a pussycat. Tori was better at lip reading than she had thought. "Very good."

And Jade extended her fingers, drawing them up the damp crotch of Tori's underwear. She didn't look away, and Tori's eyes stayed fixed on hers. She could see the slight widening, hear the tiny little gasp. Fuck, it was beautiful. Jade's gut was tight with desire - and not the widespread receptivity of heat, but active, needy, fired-up desire that meant if she didn't have hands on skin and an arm full of panting alpha in five minutes, she was going to explode.

She walked her fingers up that strip of cloth, and felt it get wet.

Tori's breath was rough, but her shoulders were shaking, with something restrained - fear? Her eyes kept flicking to the rest of the audience, their heads all turned toward the screen, but still there, so close. Jade crawled right into her lap.

Movie theatre seating was designed so this wouldn't happen. It was a tight squeeze, but Tori had annoyingly skinny hips and Jade straddled her lap, her hand nestled in the tight vee of her thighs. Tori lurched toward her, wrapping her arms around her like strangling vines, burying her face in her shoulder. Jade twitched the cloth aside and felt the vibrations as Tori groaned into her.

(She loved that. She loved that Tori wasn't the sort of girl who just crossed her ankles and nibbled at her lower lip as she got fingered in a movie theatre. She loved that she _knew_ she was the first here - the first one ever to touch her like this. And Jade wasn't going to let anyone else have a shred of her innocence. She was going to take every damn scrap.)

Jade dipped in, just a taste - tight and wet. Fingers slippery, she slid upward, finding the nub of her clit. Tori seized in her arms, and Jade felt it emerge from the hood. _So _that_ was what an alpha girl felt like down there. _That was _solid_. You could _do_ something with that. (Not distinct from a beta female her _ass_, but, of course, girls didn't _measure_.)

Jade dipped back down to moisten her fingers. Tori's nails clawed into her back. Her body was shuddering. Jade teased with going in farther, just one finger. Tori's grip tightened. Her chest heaved - the roughness vivid even though Jade could only feel it, and not hear it. She was going to fuck this girl, bend her over and break her - for the first time - and she was going to love it. But not now - wait until she could let her scream.

With wet fingers she circled her clit, glad to be pinning her down, keeping her hips from jerking. She teased her, teasing out one rough pant after the next, tightness, a moan of discontent.

"God, Jade. Please?"

Tori's eyes were wet, mascara running - what wasn't already rubbed off on Jade's shirt. The girl didn't know what she was asking for. Jade kissed her, just a light chaste kiss, and then let her fingers twitch - once, sliding up and rubbing right over her. And Tori arched, lips parting, and _gushed_.

Jade's hand filled, thick and wet and sticky. A tremor shot through her in response - an orgasm. _"Shit," _she hissed.

Tori's eyes flicked open. She started to struggle. "Oh god, I'm sorry. I don't- I don't always _do_ that_, _not like that-"

Jade cocked her head inquisitively. What was she on about? Was she embarrassed about... _coming that much?_ "Shh," Jade whispered. Then she slowly extracted her cramped hand from Tori's crotch. It glistened in the light from the screen. A trickle was slowly dribbling toward her wrist. Jade extended her tongue and licked from her wrist all the way to her fingertips. Tori's eyes went wide. Jade sucked on her fingers. Then she grinned.

"_Salty_."

Tori breathed out - very slowly. Then she smiled.

Jade just sat on her lap and grinned like an idiot back at her.

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Some random alpha gave Tori a not-so-subtle low-five on the way out, and there were a bunch more looks, mostly from clearly alpha-omega pairs, that varied from annoyance to confusion. The whole theatre kind of stunk like them. They really should probably have remembered that. Oh well. Luckily their beta friends couldn't smell it, but the way Andre's eyes widened when he saw Tori's face, made Tori spin, grabbing Jade's hand and drag her away. "Bathroom!"

Jade leaned against the wall and watched as Tori scrubbed her eyes and fixed her make up, and then straightened out her skirt and underwear. Then she glanced over at Jade. "Aren't you going to wash your hands?"

Jade examined her hands. "No. I don't think so."

"What!"

"Maybe never again."

"Jade!" Tori grabbed her and struggled to tug her over to the sinks. "You wash those hands or you aren't ever putting them on me again!"

Jade just laughed, bringing them to her face to breathe them in one more time. "Someday I'll make you into a filthy girl."

"Yeah, yeah. Soap."

Jade glanced over at her and got distracted by the mark on her neck. "Oh," she said. "I gave you a hickey."

"What!" Tori squeaked. She looked, and felt it, and prodded it. "Oh _no_."

"Better get used to it, good girl. You belong to _me_."

"Oh yeah?" Tori said, leaning over to get a little extra height to try to look down at her. "You _sure?_"

Jade purred. Their scents mingled, the omega in her so ready to be bossed, the Jade in her completely amused by the fact that she was trying it in that skirt. "Yeah, totally. I paid twenty bucks."


	15. Interlude

**An awkward non sexy interlude! In Holly's POV. Mainly Jade angst. Probably set a few hours after 1st base ends.**

Holly looked up from her papers as Jade emerged from the upstairs level and started down toward the kitchen. She looked a little rumpled and sleepy, and smelled like... shenanigans. When she spotted Holly she flinched a little. Holly carefully glanced back down at her work. "Hello Jade."

"Um, hey." Jade came down and stood awkwardly in front of the table. "Is there - can I have something to eat?"

Holly glanced up. She shouldn't be this awkward about asking for food. God, what had her parents done to her? "Sure. Go scrummage in the fridge. You can eat anything you want here, you know. Whenever you want. You don't have to ask."

Jade cast her a suspicious look over her shoulder from the fridge. "Thanks."

"Though I'd avoid anything on the bottom shelf in the door. That's Trina's, and... well. I'm not responsible for the side effects."

Jade's eyebrows lifted. "I will steer clear."

"What's Tori up to?"

"Sleeping." Jade made herself a sandwich and came to sit at the clear end of the table. "Apparently she's not a fan of _Anguish_."

Holly wrinkled her nose. "That's a terrible movie. Why'd you show it to her?"

"I needed to check if she actually was interested in what I was showing her or if she was just faking it to maintain access to my tits."

Holly laughed. "Got your answer?"

Jade smiled. "Yep."

"How are things going, generally?"

There was a slight dart of Jade's eyes away that worried her, but then the corner of her lips quirked up slightly. "Pretty good, I think. I mean, I'm a jerk a lot, but she's stubborn enough to not let me get away with it. Or," Jade frowned. "Sometimes it seems like she likes it. I'm not sure why."

"Probably because she likes _you_."

Jade looked at her, looking anxious and a little upset. "_Why_?"

Holly shrugged. "Probably the same reason she likes the color pink, and singing."

"Oh." Jade sounded resigned. "Endorphin high."

"_No_, Jade. Because she _likes_ it. Not everything is reducible to just chemicals."

Jade eyed her with stubborn resistance. Logic - that was what was required. Logic her out. Holly pulled up a picture of Tori on her pearphone. "Look at this."

Jade's lips twisted, just slightly, in something that might have been revulsion, but really wasn't.

"You think she's pretty?"

Jade darkened slightly. "Yes."

Holly glanced at the picture. Tori had just dropped something and was looking surprised. It was not one of her most alluring photographs. That was... good. She zoomed in on the photo until the image went pixilated and unrecognizable. She showed it to Jade. "Do you think this is pretty?"

Jade scowled. "Of course not. It's just brown pixels."

Holly zoomed out one degree. "Pretty?"

"No."

The next. "Pretty?"

"No."

"Pretty?"

"No."

"Pretty?"

Jade hesitated. "No," she said, but it was more slow.

"Pretty now?"

It had almost resolved. Jade nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess."

"Now?"

"Mhm."

"It's all the same picture, right? Yet when it's broken down into blocks of color you don't feel a certain way about it. When it resolves you do. You can't explain everything based on its basic components."

Jade made a face. "Well, no. But there's perception, and recognition, and association, and..."

"There's a lot that goes into it, right?"

Jade nodded.

"Just think how lucky you have to be for all those things to come together and be focused on you. Think about how that makes you special."

Jade was quiet for a long moment, staring down at her half eaten sandwich. "Okay," she said finally. "Okay."

Holly leaned back in her chair. That had gotten a little unexpectedly heavy. "So, 'access to your tits'?"

Jade choked on her sandwich. When she had finished coughing and swallowing she glared at Holly. "You know, I recall you mentioning something about not taking your little girl's virginity on the porch because of future humiliation, and that you knew from personal experience, and you never explained that."

Holly grinned. "Oh you want to know?"

Of _course_ I want to know!"

"It's not _actually_ all that exciting. Just, back in my day we didn't have the daily heat suppressants with the slow build hormone resistance. We had to take high strength ones right at the right time, and if your cycle changed or you miscalculated, sometimes you ended up unprepared." Holly grinned. "And, imagine, if you've just recently broken up with your douchebag alpha boyfriend, and you've decided that you're in love with your best friend, instead of going home and taking your pills, you decide to go to his house."

Jade laughed and covered her face.

Holly laughed. "Well, his, his parents', his grandmother's, and his six brothers' and sisters' house. Of course it was his grandmother who opened the door. She took one look at me and one sniff and then yelled up the stairs, 'David! Your girlfriend's here!' He tumbled down the stairs, fresh from the shower, utterly confused because he didn't have a girlfriend. I kissed him on the porch, and... lets just say things got rather heated. I dragged him up to his room and we barred the door.

"Unfortunately, after three days in his room we had to actually come out and face his family and apologize to his brothers who had had to sleep on the floor. They were nice about it, mostly, but there has not been a single Christmas when I haven't been teased about it. And it's been, what, twenty years?"

"Oh, come on!" Jade exclaimed. "That was like nine people! Who would have teased me if I got off on the porch?"

Holly pointed her thumb at herself. "That would be _me_."

Jade glanced away. "It's nice," she said, "that you got to pick him like that."

"Yeah, because we omegas always make such great decisions when we're horny." Holly shook her head.

"Do you regret it?"

"No. Of course not. But the going to his house and sleeping with him wasn't _choosing_ him. It was... being an omega. Choosing's what you do after that. Choosing's telling your family, and getting thrown out, and getting adopted into his, and deciding to get married. You choose little by little for a long time until you've made a choice, and then you keep choosing, because you can always change your mind."

"You got thrown out?"

Holly looked at Jade, at her high tension, her whitening knuckles. She sighed. "I don't talk to my parents anymore. They weren't like yours, they didn't try to sell me, but they did want final approval over my alpha. They... made suggestions. I did not really like any of their suggestions."

Jade sagged slightly, staring down at her hands.

"I got knotted early, by one of their choices, and I had liked him, until then. But afterwards he turned into a controlling asshole, and he didn't want to let me leave him. I had to get another alpha to fight him off, and then I had a series of shitty guys. Not all of them were bad. Some were fine, but I only knew they were fine when I said I wanted to break up and they didn't start screaming. David was different because we were friends first. And he was so self-effacing, because he thought I was out of his league. That's what my parents thought too. They were wrong."

"Why'd they think that?"

"Because his family was poor, and he was a cop, and he was Puerto Rican, and a bunch of other stupid reasons. Because they thought that my alpha was supposed to take care of me, and not that we could help take care of each other. They just... never came around to it. So we don't talk anymore."

Jade leaned against the table and sighed. "You know, I'm so angry with my parents for doing what they did to me. But... but I miss them too."

"Of course you do." Holly moved and hugged Jade. "Of course you do."

"I _hate_ my dad for what he did, and for getting away with it, but my mom, she never fought for me, and she never gave me any support, but she never abandoned me either, even though she thought my dad was right and that I was being a selfish and ungrateful omega brat. But Tori said that she let her in - that she looked at her, and smelled her, smelled what she was to me, and let her in."

"You know she loves you."

Jade flinched. "I don't know that. I don't know if it had anything to do with _me_. Protecting me, helping me. She didn't _do_ that. But she was very into the mating thing. Your mate's the one you stick to. And I suppose it doesn't matter how it happens. Your mate's your mate, and Tori was mine, and she had rights or something."

"That would be perfect reasoning, except that most people who think that way also think female alphas are demons. But she let Tori in."

Jade sighed. "Yeah. She let Tori in."

She was too sad. Holly pulled her out of her chair and onto the couch, wrapping her arms around her. Jade leaned into her chest, resting her head on her shoulder. "It's not like I can get in contact with her. I can't even ask what she was thinking. If dad found out..."

Holly tightened her grip.

"Thank you," Jade murmured. "Thanks for looking out for me, like you did. No one did that before. It... kind of freaked me out."

Looking out for her? Not letting Tori make an idiot of herself by bringing an omega into her bedroom? Breaking it up when there was uncomfortable touching going on? Honestly. That was the_ minimum_. "You know," Holly said. "I'm not your mother, and I'm never going to be your mother. But, regardless of whether I end up as your mother-in-law, I want you to feel safe here, with me. You will always be safe here, and always welcome, all right?"

"Even if I fuck up with Tori?"

"Even then."

"I don't really believe you."

"You won't know for sure until you have to try. But... if you need to, remember to try, and I'll remember that I made you a promise. Okay?"

"Okay."

Jade didn't let go. Holly rather liked it. After the whole 'well, the reason you like cuddling is actually kind of embarrassingly sexual and you're an _alpha_' debacle, Tori got skittish about being clingy, and Trina had never felt a lapse in confidence enough to need a hug, so it had been a while. She wondered if it was unfair to Tori, making this promise. If Jade broke her heart, as threatened, and as was entirely possible, having her to family holidays and looking after her might be considered a betrayal. But Tori would have to live with it. Holly didn't have any omega daughters, and Jade didn't have any supportive parents. Why leave that gap unfilled?

"I don't know if I can't believe it because I don't trust you, or because I just can't visualize any sort of way my future could be. I've been looking one sort of future in the face for so long, and now it's gone, and I don't know what I'm supposed to fill it with."

"You know, you don't have to over-think it. Sometimes it's all right to just take things day to day and see how they turn out."

Jade sighed and leaned into her. "Maybe," she said. "_Maybe_."

It was a couple of minutes before a blinking and yawning Tori emerged from the upstairs and frowned at her mother and her girlfriend curled up on the couch. She wrinkled her nose. "Should I be worried about this?"

Holly laughed.

Jade gave Tori an ironic eyebrow raise. "Would you _like_ to worry about this?"

Tori turned red.

"Don't worry about it!" Holly told her. "Just come over here and you can give us both a hug."

Tori's expression brightened and she crawled onto the couch, looping one arm around her mother's neck and pressing her nose into her girlfriend's shoulder. Jade huffed lightly. "Hug-slut."


	16. Stealing Home

**Okay, so WARNING. This is not your usual happy little sex scene, okay. (First of all - it is freaking long), and second, remember that this is A KNOTTING universe. And that basically normal sex for alpha/omega couples is extreme sex for Betas Like You. So. Extreme sex. Some hurt/comfort. Awkward biological happenings. But NO g!p. Seriously. If you do not like to focus too deeply on explicit descriptions of your darling characters having sex, leave it alone and don't read it. If you have been waiting and waiting for this universe to pay off it's smutty promises, here you go.**

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When Tori got home on Monday her house was in uproar. There were suitcases everywhere, and Trina was having a nervous breakdown in the kitchen.

"What?" Tori looked around, horrified. "What's going on?"

Her mom swooped by with a pile of underwear. "We're going out of town for a few days. Trina has an audition." Then she turned. "David!" she yelled. "Last chance to talk to your daughter!"

"What?"

Trina turned to glare at Tori. "Don't think I'm not grateful for the opportunity, little sis. But you had _better_ open all the windows when you're done. Maybe I can't smell heat, but I can smell sweaty sex. And keep it to your room! No kitchen sex! And don't you dare go into mine!"

Tori still had no idea what was going on.

Her mom squeezed her arm. "The fridge is stocked. Energy drinks under the sink. Remember to stay hydrated. And avoid caffeine. It's better just to wear yourselves out and then sleep. You won't be as hungover afterwards."

David thundered down the stairs. "Tori!" He caught her up in a bear hug. "I'm so... so _proud_."

"What is going on!"

"Oh." Holly looked at her. "Jade's going into heat, so we're giving you the house. Honestly, you're both my little girls, and I don't need to hear that."

"We're _both_..." Tori wasn't sure what was more confusing. "You're giving us the _house_?" Then she frowned. "Why didn't I _know_? Why did all of you know? Why didn't she say something!"

Holly raised an eyebrow. "You haven't noticed anything?"

"I'm not _that _unobservant! She doesn't smell like heat yet! She just..." Tori frowned. _She just smells aroused more frequently_. Tori didn't say this. _And she got me off in a movie theatre._ Tori refrained from mentioning this either. And today at lunch with the gang she had sat in Tori's lap, completely unexpectedly, and stayed there until the food came. And she smelled... wonderful. "Oh," Tori said in a suddenly small voice. "She's going into heat. _shit_. She's going into _heat."_

"David," Holly instructed. "Your turn. I'll get the suitcases out to the car."

Tori had frozen in horror. Jade was going into heat.

Her dad led her to the couch and sat her down. Tori didn't really notice, she was too absorbed in the sudden panic that filled her mind. The other alphas talked about heat sex like it was the best thing ever, but they also kept mentioning how much work it was. It was three days of stamina. Some of the guys trained for it - like workout style training. Omegas were supposed to me the most demanding during it that they ever were. And they _expressed _their dissatisfaction. And it was Jade - who had gotten through her heats with Beck for years. And it was _Tori_, who had never had sex with _anyone_, and who was supremely disadvantaged in that _she didn't have a knot._

Fuck!

"Tori. Tori! Breathe!"

Tori finally gulped in huge heaving breath and looked at her father. "What am I going to _do_?"

Her father hugged her. "Oh, baby girl. You're going to love your mate. You know that."

"But - but _how_?"

Her father raised an eyebrow. "With your _body_."

"That doesn't _help!_"

"So, you're saying that you've spent this whole month not doing anything?" He sounded incredulous.

"No!" Tori frowned. "I mean, we did some stuff. But it was... for me stuff. LIke, I got to..." Oh god. How much of this could she say to her father? "Nothing below the waist... on her."

David chuckled. "Look. I am going to give you one tip about heat-sex with omegas. It's not one most of the guys talk about, because they're mostly interesting in competing with each other - do they compare the number of times they knot their girls?"

Tori nodded. She thought the record was maybe fifteen times for one heat.

"That's about them, not about their omegas. After four times, or so, the omega gets so bruised and sore that even though they're still aroused, they can't really enjoy it. The trick to it is the slow build. Omegas want to get knotted, but they also want your attention, they want to feel safe and looked after. Just be together. Make love to her. And delay orgasm as long as you can, then, afterwards, when you're tied, talk to her, and keep her close. And even after you slip out, do the aftercare. Omegas - even the stubborn ones - like cuddling."

Tori liked cuddling too. But cuddling wasn't this issue here. "But, how am I supposed to knot her?"

David looked surprised. "Huh? I just figured you'd use your hands."

Tori looked down at her hands. "What?"

He put one of his next to hers. It was rather larger than hers. "Mine are a bit big. But you're just about optimal." Then he frowned and dug around in his pocket. "Here," he said, and handed Tori an eight ounce bottle of lube. "It's her first time getting knotted, right? This might come in handy."

Then he grinned at his incidental pun.

Tori couldn't stop looking at her hands, possibly even more horrified than she had been to start with. Holly leaned over the couch. "This is from me," she gave Tori a box.

"And this is from me," said Trina, grumpily. "Happy first heat orgy, or whatever."

Trina's gift was a scented candle. "It's the strongest smelling one I could find. Use it."

"Um, thanks."

Her mom's gift was a pack of silk scarves in a variety of colors. Tori stared at them, not entirely sure what they were for.

"Talk about that before you use them," her mom suggested. "Communication and consent are very important."

_What?_ Tori stared at the scarves for a long time. Then suddenly it clicked. "Restraints? You got me _restraints_?"

This was possibly the most embarrassing day of her life so far. But she had a sudden inkling that tomorrow was going to be worse.

Her mother patted her shoulder. "Just... consider it."

"Oh my _god_," said Trina. "The candle is _just_ to burn off the sex smell, okay? If you use it for kinky sensation play stuff, I'm never going to forgive you."

Tori very seriously considered seppuku. Her parents kissed her cheeks and then headed for the door. "Do try and keep a window open a crack," her mother said. "And the laundry's open if you need to do a few loads."

"Showers are fun, but if you're tired, run a bath," her dad suggested. "You can use the one in our bedroom. Less chance of injury."

"Oh god," Trina mumbled. "Can we leave now and stop talking about Tori's suddenly emergent sex life? Yes, yes, it's wonderful that you're like, coming of age, or whatever, but if I have to think about my sister's sex parts for another minute, I'm going to puke."

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Tori woke up the next morning, and got ready for school by herself. It was actually kind of depressing. The set of utterly humiliating gifts was on the coffee table still, and Tori tried not to look at them as she ate toast in the dim room. She got to school and hovered in sight of Jade's locker, hoping that she would show up. But the bell rang, and she hadn't yet, so Tori shuffled off to Sikowitz' class. Tori was twitchy, and a little upset. Cat was there, but where was Jade? She didn't _like_ it when Jade disappeared. It had only ever meant bad things before. Beck was in class and she glared at him for a while, before he raised an inquiring eyebrow and she flushed. She had no reason to be pissed, just because he had... _put his _thing_ in her mate_...

No. Tori hated him, and went back to glaring.

Then she started to smell it. It was familiar - and so, so much stronger than it had been last time - and last time it had made her knees collapse. Tori couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. If she looked over her shoulder she was pretty sure she would fall out of her chair. The door swung open and a stack of papers landed in Tori's lap. "Hey you," Jade murmured in her ear, and Tori got wet.

"Hey," she managed, automatically. Jade's eyes were bright and alive with amusement and interest, her lips quirked in a far too pleased with herself grin, and Tori couldn't help moving in to kiss her.

"AhhhhhHem!" Sikowitz announced. "Although I am entirely in favor of young love, I have tragically been forbidden by the school from encouraging nakedness in my class! So if you are planning on starting up the horizontal tango marathon today, you're excused."

Tori felt herself go red. Jade grabbed her arm. "Thanks, Sikowitz," she said and started tugging Tori toward the door. Tori made a desperate grab for the papers on her lap and her backpack and stumbled out after her. Cheering followed them.

"So, wait wait wait," Tori trailed after Jade down the hall. "You're in heat now?"

Jade raised an eyebrow. "You can't tell?"

"No! I mean, of course I can tell, now. But you didn't _tell_ me. And we're missing school? And my parents took Trina out of _town_ so we could have the house."

"Yeah," Jade said. "I talked to your mom."

"You didn't talk to ME!"

Jade blinked. She pointed at the papers. "That's your homework for the rest of the week. FYI, I'm in heat. I'm going to be fucking you for the next couple days. Enjoy."

She turned and headed for the parking lot.

"_Jade_!"

"God, Tori. If you're really that pissed about it, you can spank me when we get home. Okay?"

Tori froze and just gaped. Jade looked at her and started laughing. "God! Your face!" She leaned in and kissed Tori's cheek. "This is going to be fun."

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Jade - who had driven - strode into her house and immediately started unbuttoning her shirt. Tori, who had been left with both backpacks, entered the house to find Jade - all skin and lace - her shirt dropping to the floor, and dropped the bags, shut the door, and locked it. "What are you-"

"Baby," Jade said, shaking her head. "We are not going to read novels and eat pizza for the next three days. And you've seen me topless before."

"Yes, but-" But not when she smelled like this. Not when Tori felt jumpy and scattered and desperate and embarrassed all at the same time. Her underwear was already sticky and uncomfortable, and Jade was way too composed and gorgeous and Tori felt that she hadn't quite gotten the message through that _she didn't know what she was doing_.

Then she noticed that Jade was frowning. "Why is there a bottle of lube on your coffee table?"

Tori groaned. "My dad..."

Jade moved toward the selection. "And... oh man. Your family. I kind of love your family. She tugged a black scarf out of the pack. "Awesome." Dangling it from her hand, she sauntered over to Tori, who couldn't move.

"What are you-"

"You need to relax and trust me, okay?"

That was really asking a lot, especially since Jade merely moving closer to her made Tori's fingers tingle and her gut tighten. Jade leaned in and placed a soft wet kiss on her neck just below her jaw. Distracted, Tori reached out, putting hands to skin, and hardly noticed the silk brushing against her face as Jade wrapped the scarf over her eyes. She tied it. "You good?" Jade murmured.

Tori blinked. She could see a little - mostly light and dark. "Why?"

"To help you focus. There's too much input and you're freaking out." Jade took her wrists and moved Tori's hands to her hips. "Now follow me. You're going to get to know my body with your hands first. _Then_ you can goggle at me naked."

"Oh, okay." That sounded... kind of amazing. Tori hooked her fingers into Jade's belt loops and let herself be led up the stairs into her room.

Jade stopped when they had crossed the threshold - it smelled slightly different in there, so Tori could tell - and Tori let her hands slide up to cup Jade's sides. She leaned into her back, nestling her nose in her neck, her face buried in her hair. "You smell wonderful," she murmured.

"And you totally jerked off last night," Jade replied. "I can smell it in your sheets."

"Hey!" Tori yelped. She took a step, her foot tangling in something on her floor, and she lost her balance. Jade gave her a shove and she went sprawling onto the bed. "Hey," she repeated, more weakly.

She felt a weight settle over her knees. Her hands were pinned, and Jade moved over her, blocking out what little light she could see. "You know, if Beck didn't change his sheets, that would have been a dealbreaker."

"Um, sorry?" This was why she would have liked a little lead time! So she could have freaked out in peace and then overprepared!

"Meh, it's kind of hot. Were you thinking about me?"

Tori was desperately grateful for the blindfold - because seeing the wryly inquiring eyebrow would have made her utterly unable to speak. "Yeah."

"What in particular?"

Oh god. It had been late, because she couldn't sleep, and the house was empty, and she had been freaking out about _today_, and there might have been a weird little fantasy that involved Jade in a low cut wench dress, being tied to a mast, and...

"Pirates?" she offered.

Jade's weight thudded down on top of her, and she laughed. "God you're weird."

"It's not my fault! I was talking to Cat, and-" Jade's hand pressed down firmly over her mouth.

"Shut up."

There was something unfair about this, Tori realized. Jade wasn't wearing a shirt, and she was on top of her, pressed right against her, and Tori's shirt was blocking any skin-on-skin contact. Tori slid her legs apart, then trapped Jade between her knees, and flipped her. There were some flailing elbows that she couldn't see, and one of them hit her in the face, but it was worth it. Jade was under her now, and Tori felt her way up her body to cup her face, then leaned down and kissed her. Jade opened under her. "Want to top me, baby?" she murmured. "Ready to tie me to the headboard and have your wicked way with me?"

"Um," said Tori. Carefully, she pulled off her shirt, not disturbing the blindfold, and felt Jade go still under her. "I want to touch you," she added. "Is that all right?"

"Yeah," Jade said, her voice rough. "Totally."

Tori lowered herself until they were skin on skin. She nuzzled into her neck, then kissed her way down to Jade's collarbone. She nipped at it lightly, and heard Jade suck in a harsh breath and arch under her. But she kept going, hands, lips and teeth, lingering on the tops of her breasts, burying her nose in her cleavage and breathing her in. A light kiss under the bottom strap of her bra. She ran her hands down her smooth sides, sucking on the skin just below Jade's bellybutton, and Jade's hips jerked up into her. "Tori! You're such a-"

Tori's hand found the button of Jade's jeans. "May I?"

"You don't want to watch?"

Tori swallowed and settled back to sit on her heels. Slowly she lifted the blindfold. Jade lay against her pillows, splayed against her sheets, face flushed, chest heaving, a glistening track of kisses and lovebites marking a snaking path over her pale skin. Tori dug her nails into her palms. She swallowed, shifting slightly, to try and grind herself against her heel.

Jade felt her moving. "No," she snapped, narrowing her eyes. "Me first."

The demand made Tori flood with arousal. "Okay."

She reached down and unfastened Jade's jeans, then slowly, carefully, worked them down her hips.

The scent was nearly overwhelming. Black lace stood out sharply against the pale skin. Jade's cool blue-green eyes watched her intently. Tori swallowed and climbed off the bed to finish pulling them off. Jade propped herself up on her elbows and worked her way back to lean against the higher pillows and watch. "Now you," she said.

"Huh?"

"_Strip_."

Tori reddened, but hurriedly started pulling off her skinny jeans. One foot got stuck and she lost her balance, falling over with a thump. She jerked them the rest of the way off and hurled them toward the laundry basket. She scrambled up and back onto the bed. Jade was grinning, covering her face with her hand.

"Sorry bout that."

Jade shook her head. "No," she said. "It's good."

Tori lay next to her, watching her intently. She reached out and brushed a lock of hair off her cheek. "It's good?"

"Yeah," Jade said softly. "When I close my eyes and just smell you, I smell alpha. I can't not. When I'm in heat it's just _alpha, alpha, I want that_, all the time. And I hate it. You being a dork reminds me that you're Tori. And I don't hate wanting Tori."

Tori knew she was grinning like an idiot, but couldn't help it.

Jade gave her a look. "Dumbass."

Tori rolled on top of her and kissed her. Jade moaned into it, opening for her, hot and wet. Her hips jerked up, hitting Tori right where she needed it, and Tori gasped. Jade's hands snaked around her, unfastening her bra, and then moving around to cup her breasts. Tori whimpered, letting Jade pull her up so she could get her mouth on her breasts. Her knees interlaced with Jade's and then slid in. Jade was so wet that it coated the insides of her thighs, and when Tori's leg made contact with black lace, it squished. Jade hissed in a breath and ground against her. Tori fumbled with her bra, unfastening it, letting it drop, and then burying her face in her cleavage. Jade arched as Tori found her nipples, rubbing and pinching, and making her thrash.

Then, she caught Tori's head and pulled on her hair to make her look at her face. "In." she said stiffly. She caught Tori's hand and turned it, looking at her nails. "They'll do. Take off your underwear and put your fingers in me. Okay?"

Tori nodded furiously. She didn't bother to get up, just got to her knees and pulled her underwear off. Shame had _left_ the building. Jade smiled wickedly, her eyes intent. "You're never going to be a stripper, darling."

"Shut it." Tori made a face at her and then hooked her fingers into the elastic of Jade's black panties and started pulling them down. Jade lifted her hips, and they slid down, exposing damp curls, leaving her sticky and glistening and ready. Tori balled the underwear in her hands, swallowing, and not sure what to _do_. The scent was overwhelming, and delicious, and she kind of wanted to taste it. And she kind of knew she would make an idiot of herself if she tried.

"Don't just stare and jerk off. It's not a movie, Vega." Jade reached back and grabbed the headboard. "You said you wanted to touch me, so get to it."

Breathing shallowly, Tori settled between her legs. She reached out hesitantly, brushing soft flesh, and then having her fingers shy away.

"Don't be a fucking tease, Vega." Jade hissed through gritted teeth.

Tori swallowed. "Just, let me know if I do anything you don't like."

"I'm in _heat_," Jade snapped. "I'd like it if you shoved your foot into me. Get your ass in gear."

Tori tangled her fingers in wet curls, then dragged her thumb slowly up Jade's lips.

Jade made a noise that was half a moan and half a snarl, as if she wanted her to just get to it. But seriously, Tori needed to take some time with this. She parted her swollen lips and stroked once more, arousal flooding her fingers, moistening them. They moved easier then, and she slid her fingers back up, rubbing her thumb over Jade's clit.

This cry was more like a groan. "Just _fuck_ me, god. You don't need to turn me on. I woke up this morning soaked, after dreaming of you fucking me from behind. If you had kissed me in Sikowitz's class, I would have ridden down on you right there, okay?"

"Okay." Tori's skin flushed with heat and sensitivity at her words, and she tentatively slid her middle finger into the sweet pool of wetness, up to the second joint.

Jade went still. "Oh," she said, quietly.

Tori withdrew and pushed in again. Jade squirmed and bit down on her lower lip.

All Tori could feel was thick wetness. It was nothing like touching herself, where even one finger caught against a tight ring of muscle that twinged -half pleasure, half pain- when she pushed inside. Jade was open and aroused and could take more than that.

Tori looked down at her hand and swallowed. Taking more and taking _that_ were not the same thing. It wasn't a knot. It wouldn't wait until she was inside to swell and tie. Maybe she hadn't had a lot of time to prepare, but she had had enough time to read a few horrifying stories on the internet about just how badly she could fuck this up.

She shook it off. Jade was whimpering and giving her filthy looks for being a _fucking tease_, and she didn't have time to freak out again. "Your omega needs you," Doug had said to her, patting her shoulder. "That's the best thing about heats. You're not this useless oversexed social blow-up doll anymore. Everything you can offer is everything she wants. You can really make her happy, even if its just for a couple of days."

Tori slid two fingers down Jade's slit and in one quick motion pushed both into her - up to her knuckles. Jade's back arched. She ground into Tori's hand. _"Fuck_."

Tori's chest clenched at the sight of it, and the feel of it. Jade was so hot, so wet, so soft inside. She could feel the slight stretch from her entrance, and just how deep, just how open she was. Tori drew her fingers out slightly, and then shoved them in again, forcing another gasp from Jade, her knuckles whitening on the headboard.

Her hand getting wetter, Tori found a rhythm, two thrusts, then a pause while she spread her fingers wide inside Jade and rotated her hand. Each pause got a choking desperate little noise from Jade. Her eyes had filled, mascara runing.

"More," she managed. "Nother finger."

Tori nodded, lacing three fingers together and pressing them in. It was tight at the base, near her knuckles and Jade gave a little gasp and bit down on her lower lip.

"Does it hurt?"

Jade nodded. "Do it harder," she managed. "Feels good."

Tori went more carefully, long slow thrusts, Jade growling out a long groan of frustration, her hips rolling every time Tori stretched out her fingers inside. Tori's eyes darted to the nightstand - Jade had brought the lube upstairs (and the scarves, and Trina's scented candle.) She went to snag it. Jade was slick and soaking, but it was still hurting her. Tori fumbled with the cap, trying to get it open with one hand, then drizzled it over her knuckles and pushed in. They moved against Jade easily, too slick to catch. Jade relaxed. The tightness around Tori's knuckles relaxed. "More," Jade whimpered.

"More?" Tori glanced down at her hand. More meant she was getting close to trying to push the full breadth of her hand inside, and the thought made her stomach flutter with bat-winged panic. She really didn't want to hurt her. "Not yet."

Jade blinked a few times to clear the tears and looked at her. "I need you to knot me," she snapped savagely. "I need to be stretched and full. I need you fucking me from the _inside_, okay? I need it. And I don't _care, _if I bleed. I don't care if you fucking shred me to do it.."

"I am _not_ making you bleed," Tori snapped back. "I am _not_ going to hurt you. I am _never_ going to hurt you." She slid her fingers out and scooted backward on the bed.

Jade dropped the headboard. "No - Tori! No! Please-"

Tori doused her hand in lube, working it over and between her knuckles and the back of her hand, to make sure she didn't miss any spots. Then she fucked two fingers back into Jade, making her hips buck. She scissored her fingers open to test how open she was - Not _nearly_ enough to take her knuckles, but she had been more open when she was relaxed, she'd keep going. But she was going _slow. _ She rubbed her hand over Jade's abdomen, kneading at her, then moving up to cup a breast and tease her nipple lightly. Jade made a purring sound, her eyelids fluttering shut. Tori parted her reddened swollen lips and slid in, stroking inside, feeling her calm and relax.

"I don't _have _a knot." Tori said. Three fingers now. Pistoning, steady and even. Jade's breath was coming in shallow pants. "All I have are my hands." Four fingers. The pinky seemed like nothing, but it led straight to the bredth of the knuckles, and Jade gave a little mewl of pain when she went too hard. Tori winced, there might have been a little vengeance in that. She scooped up the lube bottle and went for it again. "And my fist is basically double the size of an average knot. You've never taken _any_ knot. So we are going to do this my way. We are not going to make it hurt any more than it has to. You are not going to be injured from this. Because I'm kind of planning on doing this to you a couple of times every month, and we don't need to have any more trauma to get over, okay?"

Tori pressed her thumb against her fingers and slid all five into Jade. She was swimming in lube, but Jade was still so tight around her knuckles. She couldn't... _do_ this.

"Yes," Jade whimpered. "Yes_." _ She bit on her lower lip, and then pressed her hands against the mattress. "Wait," she said. "Let me..."

Slowly, carefully she rose, Tori kept her fingers pushed deep into her pussy. Jade brought her leg over and got on her hands and knees. Tori swallowed, presented witht he firm perfect slope of Jade's ass.

"More lube," Jade instructed. "Keep your hand steady."

Tori obeyed, coating the back of her hand, and then held it stable. Jade pushed back against it, pushed, and with a slick squish, Tori's knuckles slid past her entrance, into deep wet heat.

_Holy shit. _

Tori's hand had gone, Jade's entrance had consumed her like a mouth. Her lips were closed around her forearm. Jade was sobbing roughtly.

"Oh god, does it hurt?" Tori could feel her, the walls bearing down on her, her fingertips brushing against a knot of flesh - her _cervix? Fuck_. Tori clenched her thighs together. This was hottest thing that had ever happened to her in her _life._

Jade shook her head. "I just..." the sob broke it off. "I never thought it would actually feel like this, like they said it would."

"What... what does it feel like?"

"God, you are kinky," Jade forced out. "It feels like... like, _god_, like I'm not _empty_ anymore. Like I'm not alone. Fist it, okay? But be careful. Don't scratch."

Tori gently tucked her fingers in, drawing her hand into a loose fist, doing her best to keep her nails away from Jade's velvety insides.

"Fuck me?" Jade murmured. "Just a little. I'm right on the edge here. Shit, this is like..."

Tori, with her free hand, rubbed a small comforting circle over her back, and then started, very gently, moving her hand, tiny, tiny thrusts, like millimeters. And Jade was making strangled sobbing gasping sounds, her knuckles white where they gripped the pillows.

Then she sucked in a harsh breath. "One more. Little harder."

Tori pushed, and Jade _screamed_. It was a short, ragged wail, and her muscles clenched down tight on Tori's wrist, locking her in, tying her. Tori soaked herself.

Fuck.

The alphas always talked about tying like it was something _they_ did, like it was their awesome knots, like it had _anything to do with it at all_. But this was tying, so deep inside her that it felt like a different _world_, and Jade's cunt clamped tight on her arm, Jade sobbing and gasping, desperate and needy.

"Stay in me, _stay_."

Tori made out the choked words. "Hey, hey," she said. "I'm not going anywhere."

Jade made a soft hmm of acknowledgement, and then slowly started turning on Tori's arm, turning to lie on her back. Tori squirmed until she was lying between her legs and then rested her head on Jade's thigh. "Fuck," she murmured. "I love you."

"Love you too," Jade murmured. "Always loved you."

She reached down and found Tori's other hand. They tangled their fingers together and held on tight.

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Tori felt the muscles begin to relax. Jade's breathing was even and regular. Slowly, she started to draw her hand out. Jade made a small noise when the knuckles breeched her. Tori's fingers slid out and she cupped her. Then she wriggled up the bed and curled around her. She examined her hand. Stickiness stretched between her fingers as she spread them. A tiny trace of red threaded through it. Tori winced, then pressed a kiss against Jade's hair.

Jade made a small sound. "Water."

Tori gave her a pat on the arm, then slid off the bed. Her knees wobbled, but she caught her balance, pulled on a t-shirt and jogged down the stairs. The kitchen was quiet, afternoon sunlight making it glow warm. Tori snagged a water bottle from the fridge and a gatorade and retreated back upstairs.

"Tori?" Jade was half sitting up, eyes wide, looking kind of panicked.

"Hey! hey, I'm right here."

Jade spotted her and a litle of the tension slipped away.

"I just went to get water."

Jade avoided her eyes. "I thought you were gone."

"I'm not going anywhere. You asked me to stay, remember?"

Jade nodded. She looked far too small and vulnerable. Tori climbed back onto the bed and pulled Jade into her. Jade leaned on her shoulder and took the water bottle. She shuffled a little, looking for a comfortable position.

"You feeling okay?"

"No," Jade muttered. "I feel dehydrated and sore and an emotional mess. I hate feeling messed up like this. I never felt messed up like this before."

Tori pulled her in more tightly. Jade buried her face into her shirt. "Don't-" Tori tried, not sure what she was supposed to say. She didn't want Jade to close up on her, not after that. "Don't get scared about this."

"'M not scared," Jade growled into her shoulder, and didn't move away.

Tori rubbed her hand up and down her bare back. "You want to talk about it?"

"No."

Tori swallowed. "If it's something I did-"

Jade's fingers dug into her arms. "You _fisted_ me, goddamnit!"

Tori froze. "I- I just, I couldn't knot you, and I thought-"

"Fucking _alphas!_"

"_Jade!_ You wanted me to. You told me-"

But Jade was crying now, properly crying. "And then you_ left_."

"Jade! I don't- What do I need to _do_?"

Jade looked up at her, eyes wet. "Hold me."

Tori pulled her into a tight hug. Jade sniffled on her shoulder.

"Was it okay?" Jade murmured. "Was I okay?"

Tori rubbed her back and petted her hair and made soft comforting noises into her ear. "You? You were amazing. You were so beautiful, and you felt so good, and you tied me so tight that I kind of, er, you know." Jade chuckled weakly. "And I wouldn't have left, you know, if I knew. I shouldn't have." Next time - water and stuff was going in the bedroom. if there _was_ a next time.

"It was just," Jade swallowed, turning her face into Tori's chest so she wouldn't have to look at her. "It felt crazy hot while it was happening. But it was your _fist_. Like - you've punched out people with that, and you were fucking me with it, and it was in me - all the way in, bigger than a knot, tight and hard in my cunt, and I felt kind of like a puppet, floppy and useless, and _nothing_ without you driving me and controlling me and making me scream."

"No way," Tori hissed in her ear, holding her tight. "No way. You're everything. You were tight and hot and wet, and _you_ took me inside you. _You_ were the one who made me desperate and horny, and all I wanted was to obey you and make you happy, and if I fucked it up-"

Jade sighed into her. "Didn't," she contradicted. "Thank you. Needed to hear that."

"I meant it," Tori said. "I mean it. You take me - all the time. I see you or I smell you and I'm _gone_."

Jade lifted her head up and kissed her, briefly, chastely. And Tori considered just how unchaste of a kiss she could give her - openmouthed, tongue extended deep between her legs - and then wished she hadn't, because she was so totally turned on again, and it was _not_ the time for it.

Fucking alphas indeed.

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_Vulnerable_.

It was a word she hated, but Jade couldn't help feeling that way. She supposed it was a normal reaction to being fucked to within what felt like an inch of her life. It had finally - _finally_ - been _enough_. Not just an orgasm, but a full-body explosion, like she wanted to trap Tori inside her and keep her there forever, so she would always feel like this, feel like the ragged hole that lived inside her was filled. Then of course she had slipped out and disappeared while Jade was still totally out of it, and when she woke up alone it felt like everything had been wrenched out of her, and the hole was fresh cut and bleeding, and that it would never fill up again.

Stupid sex feelings.

She traded sips of water and Gatorade with Tori and let herself rest against her chest, listening to her heartbeat. The desperate panicky feelings were mostly gone now, Tori's fingers in her hair seemed to stroke them out. Her bare thighs, pressed against Jade's ass, made the heat warmth begin to curl through her again, coiling and settling in her gut. But it wasn't necessary and insistent. It was different, as if she had got what she needed, and now she was just interested.

God, _Tori_. For someone who was totally freaked out about sex, she had managed to take over and make it fucking-amazing.

Her fingers were twitching on Jade's neck, stroking her. And Jade could feel the slight muscle spasms as she tried to control her hips. And her clit was totally hard. Jade could feel it pressing into her ass.

Jade rolled her hips, pushing back against her. But even that slight motion made her cringe in pain. Tori had been totally sweet, and she was still _so_ sore. And _exhausted_. You didn't get a hand up there for cheap. She turned into Tori, tugging down the collar of her shirt and kissing her throat.

"Hey," Tori murmured.

"Hey," Jade responded. "I'm... better now. The crazy needy post sex hormones are cooling off. Though I'm not going to be moving again for like an hour."

"I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Jade laughed. There was no way she was telling Tori she felt like she had been fucked with a spiked mace. Because she was so looking forward to getting fucked like that again. "You were perfect. Kind of... annoyingly perfect."

Tori grinned at her. It was her happy - post performance high - grin. Jade shook her head. If this girl ever became a popstar it would all be because of that smile.

"And now I'm feeling guilty because you had to do all the work."

"I'm kind of okay with that."

Jade moved into her and kissed her gently, slowly. "Take that stupid t-shirt off."

Tori had gotten pretty good about whipping off the clothes. Jade kissed her again, this time open mouthed, with tongue. Her tits were sweet, soft and small enough that Jade thought she could probably get one all the way in her mouth. She moved down to give it a shot. She was so soft and tender, there would be teeth marks all over her in the morning. Tori's fingers tangled in her hair, and she squirmed. Jade tried to roll onto her, but it _hurt_, and she flopped back. "Fuck," she said. "I'm not moving. Get up here and kneel over my face."

"What?"

"_Tori_." Jade slid her hand between her legs and cupped her. Tori gave a little squeal of surprise, and Jade felt a light press against her palm. She spread her fingers, catching her clit between two of them, and then tightened her grip. "I want to suck you and fuck you and make you come so hard you forget your name, okay? But you fucking destroyed me, so you're still going to have to do some of the work. Now sit on my face, kay?"

More awkward and hesitant than usual, Tori started crawling up, and they shifted around until they found something manageable. Jade couldn't quite take a breath. Tori was a mess. She totally had come while shoving her fist into Jade and Jade could smell it. She reached out with her tongue, sliding it up Tori's pussy lips, and she could taste it too.

At that slight touch, Tori whimpered, her hips shuddering. Jade reached up to cup her ass, give her a bit of support, and then extended her tongue, and dragged it up until it reached the base of her clit. God, that cry. Jade spread her legs and dug her heels into the mattress. She was _not_ going to get distracted by how much Tori turned her on.

Her clit was long, full and quivering, and Jade licked her lips, then moved in to suck it into her mouth. Tori bent forward, grabbing the headboard, hips jerking like she was trying to fuck her face, and Jade dug her nails into Tori's ass. Tori froze and swallowed hard.

"Sorry," she murmured.

Jade sucked hard on her clit, and Tori made a pained squeal. She was dripping already, arousal running onto Jade's chin and neck. Jade, from the back, started to finger her perineum, stroking the base of her lips, and teasing as she soaked them too. Fuck, the heat of it, the way it smelled. Jade loosed her clit and pushed Tori's ass forward so she could dip her tongue right into her entrance - her sweet, tight entrance, that gushed salty cum onto her tongue and into her mouth. Man, _this_ was so hot. For a moment she recalled her contract with Gavin - no oral - she had said. That would _never _make it onto a contract with Tori. The way she tasted, the way she squeaked, her hard, amazing clit. Jade moved back up, using her tongue to tease her way around the swollen, erect nub. Her fingers slipped in from behind, one pushing into Tori. Tori keened and pushed back, then Jade pressed in the second one. She was tight enough that it would hurt, and Jade licked her way up the shaft of her clit, then teased the head, and Tori was rocking back and forth, looking for penetration and tongue and panting and gasping and desperate. Jade pulled her clit right back into her mouth, and sucked, and fucked her fingers in and out of her, and Tori arched her back and clenched her fingers into the sheets, and _came_. She pulled out of Jade's mouth, pulled off her fingers, and squirted cum all over Jade's forehead and eyes and cheeks and mouth.

Tori gasped, realized what she'd done, jerked back, then clenched and did it again on her tits. It was hot and sticky and clung, and Jade felt her hips buck, and her own tight, white-hot orgasm rip through her.

"Shit, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"You have _no _idea how fucking hot that is," Jade murmured, cum trickling into her mouth as she opened it. She licked her lips. "Fuck."

She squinted slightly, not wanting to get any in her eyes, and saw Tori staring down at her, her mouth slack, as if it was seriously just as hot from the other side. Then, slowly, Tori shuffled, moving down her, and then leaning in. Jade shut her eyes again, wondering if she'd be kissed, but instead she felt the hot lap of a tongue cleaning off a streak of cum from her cheek. Bit by bit, Tori licked her clean, licking even across her eyelids and then down over her breasts. She got distracted by sucking them, and their legs interlocked. Jade groaned as Tori worked her tits thoroughly, and ground against her thigh, squeezing and kneading at Tori's ass. She came, and felt Tori come against her, smearing her thigh with more cum, not that it wasn't sticky enough down there already.

They lay there, quiet and still, until Jade tried to open her eyes and realized that her eyelids were a little stuck together. "Fuck," she muttered. "I need a shower. You've totally drenched me in cum and spit and lube and I feel totally disgusting."

"You up to that?" Tori murmured.

"Not really."

"Bath?"

"Mmmm, sounds excellent."

"Can I... go run it?"

Jade paused. Was she going to be an emotional mess again? "Kiss me first," she said. She felt Tori smile against her skin, then move up slightly to kiss her.

"Love you."

"Don't be annoying."

Tori laughed and slid out of bed. "Back in five," she said and sloped off.

Jade stretched out on the bed and dozed off. She was going to totally made Tori carry her to the bath, because she _so_ wasn't walking anywhere on her own.


	17. Possible World: 6 years later

**I wrote this scene a LONG time before I finished the fic. It takes place 6 years after the events of Animals and Prizes, and is, well, one way things could go. :)**

"Look!" Tori yelped. "This is stupid! We've been together for like... five years now, and you won't say yes to living with me. I know you like your own space, but you can have your own space. We can mark it, 'JADE'S SPACE,' it will be fine!"

Jade glared at her. "No."

Tori's lower lip pouted. "But we're graduating college. We're going to New York."

"I hate you."

Tori shoved her. "You don't."

"Don't you dare go all alpha on me! I'm not your bitch!"

Tori quickly pulled back. She always had to be careful about that. It wasn't as if she acted all alpha normally, but if she even hinted at it, Jade would freak. (Well, unless they were in bed, and even there they tended to take turns topping.)

Tori sat on the bed and rubbed her temple. "Okay?" she said. "I mean, It's just expensive. I guess I could see if Cat wants a roommate..."

"I get Cat," Jade said. Then she made a face.

"Wouldn't you rather live with me?" Tori wheedled gently. "I'm like, you know, generally calm, and can give you amazing sex."

"You've given me enough of that," Jade snapped.

Tori gaped. "_What?_" That was the one thing Jade never complained about. _Enough sex_? What was she going to _do_?

Jade shrugged. "It's not like I'm going to need it for a while."

"What? I don't- I don't understand."

Jade glared at her. "Do you pay attention at all? I didn't go into heat this month."

Tori scratched her head. "But- but we totally had a sex weekend. I remember, because you tied me to the headboard and then bit me all down my inner thigh and-"

"Shut up!" Jade glared. "Yeah, we fucked, but we didn't _heat_ fuck. We haven't done that for two months. The first time I was like, whatever, not important, and the second time I went to the doctor."

Tori froze. Was she sick? What was this? Was she telling her something horrible?

"And apparently that last doctor I went to back in LA was an idiot."

"Why?"

"He said I didn't need to be on birth control pills if I was just sleeping with you."

Tori choked out a laugh. "Well, duh. I mean, it's not like I can-"

Jade quirked an eyebrow.

"_What_?" Tori's eyes widened. The curve of Jade's lips expanded into a rather mona-lisa-esque smile. "You're not serious."

"You're an _alpha_. If male omegas can get knocked up, it's only fair that you can knock me up."

"But how does-" she looked at her hands. As far as she knew she had never ejaculated cups of sperm from her palm or fingertips.

Jade snorted and grabbed her crotch. Tori squealed and tried to pull away, but Jade was pressed against her. A brush of lips against hers and she was stepping away. "The doctor said it seriously isn't easy to do it on accident. Mostly it involves fucking around with turkey basters. But apparently we had enough cross-pollenation of fluids to manage it. Must be because you're insatiable." Jade considered this for a moment. "Actually, it's probably because I like watching you masturbate yourself and then don't make you wash your hands before you touch me."

Tori sank onto the bed. "So you're- you're..."

Jade rolled her eyes. "Pregnant, yes."

"_Mine_?"

Jade flicked her head. "You saying I'm sleeping around on you?"

"My parents are going to _kill_ me."

Jade laughed. "Because you knocked up your omega mate?"

"We're twenty-two!" Tori swallowed. "And- you... you don't want to live with me."

Jade glanced down and let herself smile. "I... may have been fucking with you. I mean, I'm going to be needing to be out looking for work, so you're staying home with the kid."

Tori grinned. "Okay."

Jade froze. "Okay?"

"Well, it makes sense, doesn't it? I can stay home, write songs, work on my next album, and you can pound the pavements and write and star in broadway shows. That was what we planned anyway. It just sounds like even more fun now."

Jade was staring at her, head slightly tipped, eyes bright with what could only have been tears. "You mean that?"

"Definitely," Tori said.

"Stop _lying _to me!"

Tori's eyes widened. "Lying? I'm not-"

"When are you going to start treating me like an omega? If it's not now, when I'm having your fucking kid, when is it? I'm the omega. I'm not supposed to tell you what to do. I'm supposed to stay home with the kid. I'm supposed to-"

Tori covered her mouth. "Jade."

Jade bit her.

"Ow! Jade! Stop being crazy! I don't treat you like an omega because you're not 'an omega' to me. You're Jade. And Jade, yeah, Jade's an omega. You can tell because she's smoking hot and drives me crazy once a month, but she's not _just_ an omega. She's also an actress, and super smart, and has the best fashion sense I've ever met, and loves scissors, and loves _me_, I hope."

Jade gaped at her, and then started to cry.

"Hey! Hey!" Tori enveloped her in her arms. "Don't cry, baby!"

"I'm not your baby," Jade muttered into her arm.

"No," Tori said softly, her hand sliding down to press against Jade's flat belly. "You're not. But you're the one I love, right?"

She felt a slight nod against her arm.

"And you love me back?"

Jade snorted softly. "Yeah," she said. "I love you back."

Tori's mother gave them one very tense look, pulled Jade into the backyard and had a conversation that went on long enough for Tori to start to feel very uncomfortable. Finally she gave in and peeked - trying to hear what they were talking about. But when she looked, Holly had Jade wrapped up in a tight embrace and they weren't saying anything at all.

When they came back, Holly gave Tori her own hug. "You're a good girl," she murmured in her ear.

"Yeah, I kind of don't feel like that right now."

Holly grinned at her. "This is going to suck for you. Please let me know if you need _anything_. Even - and possibly especially - a break from each other."

When they told her dad, he gaped and looked from Tori to Jade and back again, as if he didn't know who to threaten to shoot with his handgun. Cat claimed godmother, Andre godfather, and god help the child if she actually had to be raised by those two crazy betas.

The sympathetic alpha hormones were a pain in the neck, and Tori did get a little crazy and possessive and defensive, but she tried to channel it into waiting on Jade hand and foot, which Jade was entirely okay with.

Jade wouldn't let her sing lullabies to her stomach. She would grab Tori by the arm and drag her up to the top of the bed. "Get up here and sing them to _me_."

"I thought you hated my singing."

"I don't hate it less when I can't see your stupid face."

Tori sang to her anyways, and Jade decided that she was just going to enjoy being treated like a queen, because she deserved it, and always had.


End file.
